Tourniquet
by orangeyhairedimmortal
Summary: When Roy saves a young Alphonse from a strange child-like creature, he is surprised to find out that it was actually Al's brother who has been brainwashed, abused, and turned unwillingly into an assassin. Al pleads with Roy to save his brother from his current life but moving past insanity and fixing shattered children is harder than it looks. slight AU, parental!Roy, kid!Ed/Al
1. Chapter 1

**okay this is slightly AU due to character placement and some other stuff but this is obvs before roy became a colonel.**

* * *

Roy stretched his aching muscles as he leaned back in his chair. He had wanted to leave hours ago but Riza told him that she would know if he didn't finish signing at least half of the paperwork he had and he didn't want to get shot. Looking at the two piles (one for finished and one for unfinished) he decided that he had fulfilled his obligation to sign half of the documents and got up. He grabbed his coat and threw it on, turning out the lights and heading out the door.

Not much had happened since he became a Lieutenant Colonel in the military. In fact, if he didn't have the guilt of the war still fresh with him and he didn't have a goal he was looking forward to, he would have rather stayed on the lower ranks so that he could go back into battle. He liked the atmosphere but he hated the bloodlust and idiocy of the military at times. He shook his head, knowing that it was for the best that he leave that type of life behind him. He was going to be Fuhrer one day and he would make better decisions about fighting than the current Fuhrer.

"Hey, Roy, you heading home?"

Roy looked behind him to see Maes coming up to him. Roy stopped and waited for him as he got closer.

"I was going to; why?"

"Gracia was going to make a big chicken tonight and I wanted to know if you wanted to come over and help us eat it? Take some home for the week?"

"Are you indicating that I can't cook for myself?"

"Not at all, not at all." He said both mockingly but truthfully. "I just know how hard you work and it's hard to find time to eat a proper meal with your busy schedule. Come on, what else do you have to do? Besides, Gracia has been wanting you to come over ever since we got married."

Although Roy liked Gracia very much, he didn't like to get involved with her and Maes just for common courtesy of a new married couple. He was sure they had 'things' of their own to do. But, she was an excellent cook, and what he had had in mind for dinner couldn't even compare to what Maes was describing.

"Alright, I'll come over there."

"Great! Let me call Gracia and tell her you agreed so she can set out an extra plate."

Maes left to go to the phones and Roy headed out the door.

* * *

Roy waited for Maes to come out, pulling his coat around him a little tighter in the chilly November air. He could smell snow on the horizon, if that were a possibility, but he had no doubts that they would get some sort of storm (rain or snow) within the night or at least the next day. The door opened and Maes walked out.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah… You have beer at your house, I assume?"

"What kind of person do you think I am? Of course I do." He said with a hearty smack on the shoulder.

Roy smiled as Maes rubbed his hands together and blew into them.

"Damn, it's cold tonight."

"Yeah. I have a feeling we're going to get a good amount of snow."

"You think so?"

"It's like I can feel it."

Maes laughed. "You'd think that sometimes. The atmosphere gets so thick it's like it's telling you what's about to happen."

Roy smiled a little as he stuck on his ignition gloves. Although it wasn't the proper use for them, they were better than nothing due to the thick fabric used in order for him to create sparks.

"Gracia was happy that you decided to come over. She said she wanted you to help with some deserts. Something about doing a flambé on some icing or something."

"Is that all I'm good for?" he said with a small laugh.

"Of course not, I made that up. She just knows that things have been a bit awkward since I married her and stuff… Roy, I'm kind of worried about you."

"What? What's this all of a sudden?"

"It's not all of a sudden; it's something I've been thinking about for a while now. You're a bachelor by choice, I get that, but have you ever even _considered_ settling down?"

Roy thought for a moment. "Every once in a while I do… but it's no use settling down when I haven't reached my goal yet. I don't want my slight obsession with becoming Fuhrer to get in the way of my family. Once I'm in the position then I know I can settle down."

"But that's just it, Roy. It's been a while now since the Ishvalan War ended and although you're a lieutenant colonel now, that's _all_ you are. Waiting will only get you so far, but never as far as Fuhrer. So the question is that have you thought about if you _can't_ be the Fuhrer? I mean… you can't live your life on a hope and a dream. Sure you can work towards it and I will always support you no matter what, but you can't pause your happiness for something that is 90% not going to happen while you're young."

Roy made a face and although he wanted to tell Maes he was wrong, he knew that the older man was right. There were many times when Roy thought about having a family, a wife and maybe a kid, but every time he did he thought of how someone could use them against him, cause him to lose out on his dream of changing Amestris to something far better than it is. He just didn't want to get anyone close to him hurt over his own agenda.

"I know it's something that you really want, Roy, and like I said, I'm not knocking it, but you need to set a different goal for yourself. You're twenty three years old, you've got plenty of time for a family and reaching your goal. Maybe you should give yourself a time limit. Something like, 'If I haven't reached my goal by the time I'm thirty, then I will start looking for a family' or something like that."

"Thirty?" Roy said with a small laugh.

"Hey, that gives you seven solid years to try and rise the ranks. If you want it bad enough, you'll find a way."

Roy laughed a little. "True…"

The two turned the corner and started passing a small alley when they heard a yelp and a loud ruckus. They stopped for a second and turned to each other.

"Did you hear that?" Maes asked.

"Yeah… Should we check it out?"

"Up to you… You got your gun on you?" he asked, reaching for his own.

"I've got my ignition gloves on, so same thing."

They stopped talking when the sound of trashcans and broken boards caught their attention, along with a small whimper. They waited patiently as the sound of footsteps echoed in the alleyway where the person was running towards the entrance. Maes and Roy stepped back a little to give the person space when said person made their way out into the light of the street. They turned without looking and ran straight into Roy, almost knocking him down.

After hitting him, Roy realized it was just a kid as he laid sprawled out on the ground, trying to get his own bearings. Maes put his gun up and knelt down.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked.

The young boy, only about eight or so, finally got his head together and looked at the two men. Seeing them, he began to crabwalk backwards in fear, staring at them with wide and fearful golden eyes. Roy tried to hold out his hand to help him up but he coward and finally flipped over and ran away, back down the alley.

Maes and Roy looked at each other in confusion when a shot rang out, prompting Maes to pull out his gun in response. Roy noticed the crackles of alchemical use and ran to the alley.

"Roy! What the hell are you doing?" Maes called, running after his friend.

* * *

When Roy reached the middle of the alley, the boy again came rushing at him but this time when he ran into Roy, he clung to him for dear life. He was trembling and crying, saying something but Roy couldn't understand it through the fabric and the tears. He heard Maes run up to him.

"Roy, what the hell? You could have been killed." He saw the way Roy was standing and moved to see the boy. "What happened?"

"Beats me. He's trying to tell me but-"

A hissing sound made the two look up as well as the boy.

"Go away!" he yelled.

The hissing turned into something like a growl and Maes and Roy could hear something coming down the wall. The boy looked up.

"You gotta do something! He's after me!"

"Who?" Maes asked.

Roy was still staring at what had come down the wall and was confused by it. It looked like a child… about the same age as the boy. It was primal, acting more like an animal than a boy.

"Who is that?"

"Please… please make him go away…" the boy whimpered into Roy's stomach again.

Maes shot at the child, aiming just above its head. I didn't even flinch as the bullet whizzed past.

"That won't do anything." The boy said.

"Triiiiick or treeeaaaat…" something said hoarsely.

Maes and Roy looked as the child-like thing started coming forward on all fours, walking like an animal. Once in the small light of the streetlamp, Roy saw that it had golden hair that was long and matted, falling over the child's face, but the eyes were primal, full of bloodlust and as golden as the sun.

"Trick or treat!" it snarled, a crazy grin appearing from under the golden locks. "Trick gets treats when trick is good. Bad trick get _punished_." It said with a sinister growl with the last word.

The boy trembled at Roy's side and he decided he had had enough of this creature.

"Go before we kill you." He yelled, sending a stream of flame towards the thing.

The flame seemed to scare it a bit as it let out a screech and scrambled back. Once back in the darkness though, a crazy laugh erupted.

"Good trick get treats if he is good. Bad trick is punished when he is bad… Trick or treat… trick or treat…" The laughing suddenly stopped and Roy felt something sinister from the shadows. "Trick is bad. You will never be safe."

In a flash he was gone and the boy lost his ability to stand, the fear taking the strength right out of his legs. Roy knelt down to him as Maes did as well.

"What was all that?"

The boy looked up, tears falling down his face.

"That was my brother. They… they did this to him. Please save us…"

"What's your name?" Roy asked softly.

"It's Alphonse but… but those people named me Trick."

Realizing the correlation of his nickname and the strange things the creature –boy- was saying, they could see they had a lot to understand.

"Come with us, Alphonse. We'll keep you safe."

Roy reached out and picked him up as Alphonse cried on his shoulder.

Maes sighed. "Well then, this will be a sight for Gracia. One more plate it is."

* * *

 **amestrian timeline class: roy was a lt. colonel for 3 yrs after the ishavalan war. we meet him officially as a colonel after ed recovers from the taboo with his automail and laddy da. also, i know that mustang wasn't in central the whole time but 90% of the story, he was. maes died in like chapt. 20 i think (or close by) and right after that, roy was transferred to central. plus, elicia wasn't born until about 1911 3 yrs after this so this means that maes and gracia are newly weds cuz this is one year after the war. whew... anyway... oh and this makes ed/al about 9/8**


	2. Chapter 2

**i apologize about al's comprehension skills. i don't hang about with children between 5-9 so i can never tell what their mental capabilities are and what not. some can know one thing and not the other. it's a very odd stage in life kinda like 10-13 *shrug***

* * *

The door opened and Gracia smiled, happy that her husband was finally home. They had been so busy moving into their new apartment that she had hardly been able to cook for her husband. But now that the finishing touches were finally done, she was going to show off her culinary skills to the ultimate level. And she would get to share some of the food with Maes best friend, Roy, whom she had come to enjoy. Yes, he had tried to flirt with her while she and Maes were dating but he seemed to not be able to control himself. She felt a little bad about 'taking' Maes away from Roy but she knew that eventually, they would all become wonderful friends.

"Maes, I'm so happy you're home!" she said, coming from the kitchen.

Maes turned the corner with Roy behind him and Gracia frowned at the child Roy was holding.

"Um… I missed something, didn't I?"

Roy looked at the kid and shook his head.

"Oh, no, he isn't mine… We literally just found him."

"He literally ran into us." Maes explained, taking off his coat. "I don't think he's had a proper meal in years and there was… something in the alley. He was frightened so we said we'd bring him here for a bit to see what's going on."

Gracia watched as Roy went to the living room with the boy and she leaned into Maes. He kissed her temple and she smiled.

"You know, I think that's a good look for Roy."

"Winter clothes?"

"No, silly… a kid."

Maes watched as Roy set Alphonse onto the couch and knelt in front of him. He smiled.

"I have to agree on that with you. I'm going to see what's going on. Set out another plate, alright?"

"Of course. There's plenty for everyone."

Maes smiled, kissing her cheek, and went into the living room to see if Alphonse could shed some light on what happened in the alley.

* * *

Roy watched Alphonse for a second as the boy sniffled some more, although he was all cried out. Roy wasn't very good with kids but he knew a troubled one when he saw one. Then again, whatever that thing was in the alley was supposedly this little boy's older brother. Was he a chimera of some kind? But that couldn't be possible…

"You said your name was Alphonse, right?" Roy asked. Alphonse nodded. "My name is Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang. People call me Roy or Mustang for short."

"Can I call you Roy?" Alphonse said softly.

"That's fine…"

Maes walked in and knelt next to Roy.

"You'll be safe here, alright? We also haven't eaten yet so we'll get you a hot meal to fill you up."

"What's a meal?"

Roy and Maes looked at each other and then looked back at Alphonse.

"Food… it's where you sit down and eat at a table with your family... or by yourself."

"Oh…"

"Have you… never eaten?" Roy asked, genuinely curious.

"They give me bread crusts… if I'm good."

Maes frowned. "Is that all you've ever eaten?"

"If I'm _really_ good then I get a slice of ham." Alphonse said with a happy smile.

Roy made a face, not liking that this little boy was getting happy over an occasional piece of meat. He decided he wanted to change the subject.

"What was that going on the alley? Can you tell us?"

"Dinner's ready." Gracia said, walking in. "Hello, Roy, it's nice to see you again."

Roy stood up and smiled at his friend's wife.

"I haven't seen you since the wedding. Mountains of paperwork and the like."

"I understand." Gracia looked at Alphonse as he stared at her. "And what's your name?"

"Alphonse… or Trick… whatever you wanna call me…"

Gracia made a face and Maes stood up as well.

"I think maybe we should get some food in you, Al, and then you can tell us what's going on when we eat dessert, okay?"

"What's dessert?"

"You'll like it, I promise." Roy said.

He went to hold out his hand but Alphonse reared back violently and Roy looked at him in confusion.

"I- I'm sorry… I thought…"

Roy knew what he was going to say and leaned down to him.

" _No one_ is going to hurt you here, okay? You have my word on that. You can trust us." He held out his hand. "If I hold my hand to you, it's only to take you to a better place."

Alphonse's eyes began to water and he jumped forward onto Roy's neck, holding it tightly. Roy sighed but carried the emotional child to the dinner table.

* * *

Alphonse had never seen so much food in his life. Well, he slightly remembered something like this but it was so hazy in his mind that it may as well have been a dream. And he had so much food on his plate! _Wait til Brother hears about this!_ he thought but then he stopped. He pushed the food away from him and crossed his arms over his chest, hugging himself.

Gracia, who was sitting beside him, noticed he wasn't eating.

"Are you not hungry? You haven't touched your food…"

"I can't."

"It's alright if you're hungry, Al." Maes said. "We won't hurt you. That's all your food."

"Brother doesn't get any though…"

"That thing that was in the alley?"

"Ed isn't a _thing_!" he yelled angrily. Seeing the surprise in the adults' eyes, he shrunk back into hugging himself. "He's… he's just lost…"

"What do you mean by that? You said something else before at the creature." Roy said, wiping his mouth.

Alphonse frowned at him. "Brother isn't a creature either!"

"We don't mean to make you mad, kid, but what we saw didn't look human… at least they didn't _act_ human."

"It's… weird…" he said softly.

"Are you *allowed* to tell us?" Roy asked.

Alphonse nodded slightly and then shook his head.

"I'm not supposed to but… but I won't leave him. I had to get away so I could save him."

"Tell you what," Roy said. "You eat that plate of food for us, take your time on it, and we will listen to whatever you have to say about your brother. If he's in danger, then we want to help get him out of it. Right now, though, we need to worry about _you_. Don't be afraid to eat, because whenever you tell us what happened, we'll save your brother."

"You mean it?"

"State Alchemist's honor. Here…" Roy pulled out his pocket watch. "This is what's called collateral."

"What's that?"

"This watch is _very_ important to me. But, to show that I mean what I say, you can keep this watch until your brother is safe and sound, alright?"

"Roy, are you sure that's such a good idea? I mean, you use that watch as a badge of sorts." Maes asked, concerned.

"True, but I'm also a Lt. Colonel of the military, so my ranking will do a lot as well. I want Alphonse to trust us." He scooted it across the table to the young boy. "Keep it safe with you."

Alphonse picked up the silver pocket watch and traced the Amestrian lion symbol on the front and smiled. The pure happiness was enough to convince Maes that wherever Alphonse came from didn't show him much compassion at all.

"Thank you!" Al said, his golden eyes beaming. "I- I'll keep it safe."

"I know you will. Now eat up and then we can talk."

Although still a little reluctant, Alphonse picked up a fork like everyone else and tried to eat to the best of his ability. Gracia showed him how to work the fork finally and he ate everything on his plate.

* * *

Dessert time came and while the adults had coffee and pie, Alphonse had milk with his. He took one bite of it and was stunned beyond belief. Gracia was happy to see the delight in his eyes and Maes smirked at his gushing over his wife's food.

Roy didn't want to mess up the happiness but he wanted to get to the bottom of the situation with Alphonse's brother.

"So, can you give us a little more insight on your brother?"

Alphonse was drinking his milk and put his glass down. He seemed uncomfortable again but seemed ready to speak to them now.

"These people came to our house and killed our mom… Ed tried to stop them with some alchemy he had learned but it didn't stop them. When they found out that Ed was really good at alchemy, even though we're not that big, and they made him… they made him do the taboo." Everyone gasped as Al fidgeted. "They told him to bring our mom back but it didn't work and it took Ed's leg. But they saw how good he was and… and then they killed me."

Roy made a face but understood where the strange cut along Alphonse's neck came from now.

"He brought me back but he lost his leg and his brain… the part that makes him normal, I mean…"

"His sanity." Roy said. "Did he give it as a sacrifice?"

"I dunno… I don't think he did. I'm not that good at it; Brother is apology."

"A prodigy?" Maes asked. Al nodded. "So he understood what was going to happen?"

Al nodded. "Yeah… he's real smart… or, he _was_ … well…"

"How did he get you back with just his leg as a sacrifice? That's not enough."

"They gave him something else to help. This little stone thing… I just remember waking up and seeing Ed wasn't the same."

"So what's with this Trick thing? You said that they call you that."

"Brother doesn't know I'm me. They did stuff to him and made him think I was someone else. He also thinks someone has me."

"They used your brother's insanity to trick him into thinking that you are a different person and someone kidnapped you?"

Al nodded. "It lets them make him kill people."

"What do you mean?"

"They tell him where to go and he finds them and then kills them after they say that I'm not there. They keep saying that they are all leads or something."

Maes looked at Roy in horror as Roy put his hand under his chin.

"So they tell your brother that certain people have you or that they can tell him where they have you and then when they tell him they don't know or whatever it is they do, he kills them? So they turned him into an assassin?"

"Yeah, that's the word. Then… then they made him like he was…"

"What exactly _was_ that?" Maes asked.

Alphonse fidgeted. "They know alchemy too and they put this stuff in him that makes him like that. They're really smart. I don't know what the stuff was but when they put Ed in an alchemy circle and make it glow, he turns into that thing and is really mean. He tries to kill me…"

"Is he still human?"

"I think so… I've never been close enough to tell. They do it when I'm bad. That's why he says that… that trick or treat thingy… I think he's still a person but they make him better somehow…"

"He didn't seem like he was human at all. His eyes glowed like an animal and he made noises like one… or some sort of monster." Maes said, thinking out loud.

Alphonse frowned at him.

"Ed's not a monster! He can't help it!"

"We know, Al, we're just brain storming." Roy said softly. "What is it that you need us to do in order to help your brother?"

"I… I think his sanity? The brain thing? I think _they_ did it to him after Brother brought me back. I think they brainwashed him into thinking he was crazy so that it would be easier for him to forget me and stuff. If… if you can get him back to normal then…"

"So you want us to capture him and detain him?"

"Detain?"

"Keep him."

"Oh. Yeah, that. If… If you can get Brother back to normal then maybe he won't have to kill anymore." He said, looking down.

Roy and Maes looked at each other.

"Can you tell us about the people who took you? Where did you come from?"

"We used to live in a place with a pool in the name but… I don't remember much. I know that they have scary red eyes and they travel a lot. Sometimes they know who they want Brother to kill but other times they pick someone."

"Ishvalans…" Roy growled. "Are they here in Central?"

Al shook his head. "Uh uh. I ran here."

"How long have you been running?" Gracia asked with concern.

Alphonse thought for a minute. "Three days."

"With your brother in that form hot on your trail?" Roy asked.

"I'd hide and take little naps just like Brother taught me… when he's not like that…" He yawned. "He's real quick though…"

"I think it's time for you to get some real sleep." Gracia said softly.

She ran her fingers through his short hair and he smiled, leaning into her.

"Is it alright if he stays here?" Roy asked.

"I'm sure we can find a place for him to sleep."

"I wanna go with you, Roy." He said, his eyes half closed.

"I think it-"

"Would be a wonderful idea, wouldn't it, Gracia?" Maes said, giving his wife a wink.

"Maybe it _would_ be better…"

"Besides, I will have to go in early so I can do some digging on what Al's told us about this incident. I'll have to see if I can find a hometown near Ishval that might match what he thought the name was and then see about any instances regarding killings."

Roy made a face. "Why can't _I_ do that?"

"Because I'm in investigations and you are not." Maes said with a grin.

Roy growled and stood up. He went to Alphonse and he immediately threw his arms up for Roy to pick him up. Roy bent down and grabbed him and Alphonse immediately fell asleep on his shoulder. Roy turned to his friend and frowned.

"You set me up."

Gracia smiled as Maes just grinned.

Roy left with Al and Maes' smile faded as he turned to his wife.

"We have to save that kid."

"I know, dear. But you and Roy are the perfect ones to do it. I have faith in you both. Alphonse is in good hands. Awkward ones, but good ones."

Maes smiled and kissed her temples as they went to clean the kitchen.

* * *

 **hehe, they made roy take him home. those two... anyhow, so there is that and awkward pre-fma parental roy begins as of now haha.**


	3. Chapter 3

**sorry this is so short and some mature themes in this one.**

* * *

A woman sat at a table at a dilapidated warehouse and drummed her fingernails on the table. She was growing impatient. She suddenly heard the sound of something scurrying from the window down the wall and grabbed the flashlight beside her. She turned it on and was met by a hissing noise and a blonde creature covering its eyes.

"I don't see Trick with you… did you lose him?"

"Trick was bad." He hissed. "Trick went away and hides with people of blue… Bang! Bang!" he yelled, slamming his fists down. "Bang, bang, go the blue people… and fire… shwoooo! Lots of fire…"

The woman sighed and stood up, touching him on the head.

"I think that's enough of this form for you tonight. I sometimes prefer your sniveling human form… even though they are both as crazy as a loon. At least your human form makes comprehendible sentences. Come, Chaser."

Chaser hissed again but crawled after her on all fours, happy to please. He like it when she was nice to him. Today was a good day… not for Trick but at least Chaser got treats. He wanted to find Trick though, it was always so fun to chase that little thing around and then bring him back home. Trick was always fun to play with, although it didn't seem like he liked Chaser.

"Stand here, Chaser." The woman said.

Chaser looked at where she was and recognized the circle. He planted himself to the ground and shook his head no. The woman lifted and eyebrow.

"Chaser, now."

"No, no! Lights go in my skin and rip apart. Tear, tear, crunch, crunch, scream… screeeeaaaammmm…" he said with a hiss.

"If you don't get your ass over here you piece of shit, I will break, break your little arm-arm and see how you like it then. Or, I can rip your automail off from your nub like last time."

Chaser hissed in displeasure and the woman pointed to the circle.

"Then get in here."

He slowly made his way to the center of the circle and sat in his designated spot. The woman knelt down on the edge of the circle and put her hands on the engraving. It lit up and the light pierced through Chaser's skin and he could feel himself being rearranged. He screamed in agony as the light engulfed him and his appearance became more like a human than his creaturesque self. In the end, he was trembling in the middle of the circle and the woman stood up, walking to him. She bent down in front of him.

"Can you hear me, Edward?" she asked softly.

He nodded in his fetal position.

"Do you remember anything from your travels?"

"Please don't turn me again, Mommy…" he said, peaking out from under his arm. "I… I'm sorry…"

"It's alright, Edward. I won't turn you for a while… Just tell Mommy where Trick went."

Edward thought for a second, trying to sift through the fractured mind of his transformation.

"He was in an alley and these two people got him. They were wearing blue and one could shoot flames from his fingers."

"State alchemists…" the woman growled, standing up and beginning to pace.

Edward slowly uncurled from the fetal position and quickly crawled away from the transmutation circle to the wall. He wasn't about to get caught in her anger again. He tried to remember further from his adventure but could only see the same fear in Trick's eyes whenever he underwent his transformation into Chaser but he also remembered for a brief moment what the man who shot fire looked like. He looked strong…

"Do you remember what they looked like? These men in blue?"

Edward was about to tell her but something in the back of his fragile mind told him to lie.

"I… I don't remember. My hair was in the way…"

This statement was both true and false. Chaser never moved the long blonde hair away from his face and so a lot of times Edward had a hard time seeing things (or remembering then correctly) due to this particular issue. At first, Mommy was very angry and thought he was lying about it but when she realized that it was a trait that Chaser had and would not remove, she came to the conclusion that not everything Edward said was a lie.

"I see… do you remember any identifying features at all?"

"Just the fire… Um… M-Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think they know where Alphonse is?"

Mommy smiled cruelly. "Wouldn't that be interesting if they did? Would you kill them to get to your brother?"

"If they hurt him then I'll hurt them back."

"I see… Rest for tonight, my little sunflower."

As the woman began to leave, Edward cleared his throat and it echoed in the room.

"M-Mommy?"

"What?" she growled.

"Chaser… Chaser wants to know if we can have a treat since… since we did good."

"You want a treat?"

"Y-yes…"

"You think you did well? You think that you helped?"

Edward's eyes widened in happiness.

"Did we, Mommy? Did we?"

She smiled and walked over to him and then gave him a backhanded slap. He cried out and covered his cheek.

"You think you helped?!" She threw back her head and laughed. "You little ingrate, you did nothing of the sort! You _lost_ Trick and you couldn't even identify who has him! What terrible little boy thinks that he should get a treat after he screwed up so badly?!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Mommy!" he trembled.

Mommy touched his head tenderly.

"Dear sweet little Edward…" She grabbed a handful of his hair and made him look at her. "Don't you _ever_ be this presumptuous again, do you understand?" Edward nodded. "Good. Go to sleep."

Mommy left and Edward curled up on himself in the dark.

 **Mommy needs to die.**

"Don't say that, Chaser… If… if you say that then we'll never get Alphonse back."

 **Alphonse is dead.**

"Stop saying that! No he isn't… people have him… That's why we have to work for Mommy so that… that we can find him again."

 **Trick was bad so he gets punished… Chaser was good but still get punished… Edward good and get punished. No one gets treats.**

"We didn't do it right or Mommy wouldn't have been so mad."

 **Mommy needs to die.**

Edward was exhausted and laid his head on the stone floor.

"You can't say that, Chaser… you just can't…"

* * *

Roy was awakened by a clap of thunder and his door slamming open. He sat up quickly as something dived into his bed and shimmied under the covers. Roy lifted them up as Alphonse looked at him from his position under them.

"Are you alright? Did the thunder scare you?" Al nodded. "You can come up here…"

Alphonse crawled out from the covers and up to where Roy was looking at him with a bemused expression.

"Are you scared of thunder?"

"Uh uh, lightning."

"Lightning? Why?"

"Cuz it can hurt you. Brother always said that thunder is just a sound so it can't do anything but… but lightning can crawl out of the sky and hurt people."

"Your brother seems very smart."

"He is… when he's normal… and his brain is okay… and when he's not talking to Chaser…"

"Chaser?"

"That's what they named what he turns into since he… well, chases me."

"So your brother knows that he turns into that thing- er, Chaser?"

"Brother tells me all the time how Chaser is mean and wants to hurt people."

"Does Edward remember what Chaser does?"

"Sometimes but Chaser doesn't move his hair out of the way and Ed says it makes it hard for him to see things good."

Roy recalled the creature never moving his hair out of his face.

"Do you think… maybe Chaser does that on purpose?"

Alphonse looked up. "Why? That would make Mommy hurt Ed and Chaser protects Brother."

"Mommy? I thought you said your mother died?"

Alphonse looked away. "The lady that keeps us makes us call her that. I don't know her other name…"

"I see… and maybe that's Chaser's way of protecting Edward."

He shook his head. "If Brother doesn't give a good report then they hurt him."

Roy wanted to find these people and kill them.

"I see… Do you talk to Chaser?"

"Chaser is there to chase, not to talk. Brother says that Chaser enjoys it because he gets to get out."

"Ah. So… Mommy is the one that changes him?"

"Uh huh. I don't think Chaser likes her though. Ed says that he always wants to kill her."

"What does Edward think?"

"He believes Mommy will give him a treat if he is good and tell him a tip about where I am and make him kill people to find me. Most of the time he gets hit a lot and she screams all the time."

"So she abuses you?" he growled.

Alphonse shrugged. "I guess?"

Roy looked down at him. "You guess? Al, adults hitting children is _not_ normal. That's what's called abuse."

"What's abuse? What's that word mean?"

Roy thought for a second. "It means to mistreat someone or something… For instance, my flame alchemy. You saw it, right?"

"Yeah! It was so shiny!" Alphonse said with wide curious eyes.

"I use it for many things and it comes in handy. To abuse my alchemy, I would need to be using it for ill intent." Roy swallowed, remembering the Ishvalan War and his perfect example of abuse. "If I were told to go and kill people because I have the power of flame alchemy, that's abuse of my power. This mommy of yours is abusing her 'powers' of keeping you by ruling you with things that cause bad treatment, hence screaming or hitting."

"Oh… and that's bad, right?"

"Yes, very bad."

"I knew it!" Alphonse said, standing up to look at Roy. "I kept saying that to Brother but he said it was normal! I said that grownups shouldn't hit little kids just because they are bigger. I remember our real mom and he wasn't like that at all."

"Oh, so you remember your real mother?"

" _I_ do; I think Brother forgot because of those people… He doesn't know about being happy anymore, but I remember that our real mom used to smile all the time and was really nice to us. She would never hurt us… Ed just doesn't know that grownups can be nice and they can be good. I bet if he met you, Roy, he'd be really glad."

Roy chuckled softly. "I don't think I'm the best parent in the world."

"But you're really nice and smart… Ed would like you."

"Well, maybe one day I'll get to meet Edward and he can judge for himself."

Alphonse grinned and plopped back onto the bed, snuggling next to Roy.

"Hey, Roy?"

"Yeah."

"I love you…"

Roy looked down at the little boy in the crook of his arm and swallowed again from nervousness. He knew if he wasn't careful, this kid and his brother would end up under his skin and they would not longer just be two kids he rescued, but children he loved.

He shook his head and turned the light out, listening to the rain on the roof and drifting back to sleep.

* * *

 **so we get a little more information about ed's issue. to clarify a little: the people made chaser but ed/chaser know about each other. it's odd. as we can see, chaser and ed can speak to one another. i guess this would be a jekyll/hyde thing but they both know about each other *shrug* also, chaser is very protective of edward and hates when mommy hurts edward. he'd rather be the one hurt.**

 **and mommy is a bitch. i hate her, but i haven't done a woman 'villain' yet. was wondering if i should give her an actual name or keep the vagueness of mommy? any suggestions?**


	4. Chapter 4

**i decided to keep mommy as mommy. she didn't need a name**

* * *

The woman looked at Alphonse as Roy finished buying his coffee from an outside vendor.

"Here you go, Al-" He looked over and smiled. "Well, hello, Hawkeye. I didn't think I'd see you on this side of Central."

"Why not?"

"This side of town doesn't seem your type of place… And he's not mine." Hawkeye looked at him as he smiled. "The kid. He's part of a case me and Maes are working on."

"I'm Alphonse!" he said, jumping a little.

"You'll spill your hot chocolate, Al."

"Is his your girlfriend?" he asked Roy enthusiastically.

Roy wasted his coffee on the ground from spitting it out.

"What? No, no… this is a fellow comrade of mine. Riza Hawkeye, this is Alphonse."

"Nice to meet you, Alphonse." Riza said, holding out her hand.

Alphonse took it and shook it and then snuggled into his scarf.

"She's real pretty, Roy." He said, looking up at him.

Roy laughed nervously. "Yes, she is… How's the training coming along?"

"Very well. Soon I'll be moved up a rank."

"Great! Then you can come and work for me."

"I don't think I want to do that. You're lazy and unreliable… and useless on rainy days."

"That's so cold, Hawkeye… you're supposed to help me impress the kid and tell me how amazing I am. I mean, I'm striving to be Fuhrer here."

"I know. Fuhrers should be honest." Riza looked down at Alphonse again. "It was nice to meet you, Alphonse, and maybe we'll see each other again."

"Okay!"

She passed by and Roy frowned after her.

"I love that woman but she's so mean."

"Are you gonna marry her?"

"No way!" Roy said with a laugh. "I'm going to be a bachelor all my life. I don't need a wife to help me get to the top."

"Me either!" Alphonse said with a big smile.

Roy laughed as they went towards Central Command. There was really no one to take care of Alphonse and Roy didn't want to burden Gracia with him, so he was going to have to take him to work… which his superior probably wouldn't like. Then again, Grumman was pretty okay with kids…

* * *

Alphonse was sipping his hot chocolate when he felt like he was being watched. He stopped walking and looked in the corner of his eyes at an alleyway and saw something crawling. He turned slowly and sure enough, the beady eyes of the creature were staring at him from the building.

"Al?" He looked back. "What's wrong?"

Al went to tell him about Chaser but he was nowhere to be found. Alphonse frowned and looked around. He knew Chaser couldn't be invisible, so where was he?

"Trick or treat?" he heard from behind him.

"I don't wanna play your games, Chaser." Alphonse said softly.

"Chaser didn't want to play but Chaser got picked. Mommy was mad… Mommy didn't give Chaser treats because Trick ran away."

Alphonse shivered as he felt Chaser's hands settle on his shoulders.

"If Trick comes back, Chaser can find Alphonse and help Ed. These bad people have Alphonse."

"I know."

Chaser stopped and Al could tell the creature was completely taken off guard.

"Trick knows the blue men have Alphonse?"

"Yes… that's… that's why I'm here. I want to help find Alphonse."

Chaser eased away for a second, a hissing sound coming from the back of his mouth. He didn't understand what was happening. Al didn't let him try to figure it out and took off after Roy, accidentally slamming into him.

"Whoa, Al! What's wrong?"

"Chaser's back! He's coming to steal me!"

Roy looked behind him but didn't see Chaser there. Alphonse seemed very afraid and was clinging hard. A hissing noise suddenly caught Roy's attention and he saw Chaser's eyes glow from the corner as he stared the two down.

"Shit… how did he find us?"

"He has a good nose."

"Did he hurt you?" Roy asked, walking with Alphonse clinging to him at the same time.

"No."

Roy looked but didn't see Chaser until Alphonse stopped him again and he pointed in the direction they had been going. He saw Edward crouched over, his eyes staring Roy down from beyond the wave of golden locks. He pointed at Roy.

"Blue man has Alphonse. Trick help get Alphonse back… blue man give him…"

"I… I can't. I don't know… where he is…"

Alphonse looked up at Roy as Chaser turned his head.

"He is… missing?"

"No. He's just somewhere I don't know."

Chaser hissed, a small growl coming from him. Alphonse had never heard Chaser growl before, only hiss, and so he clung harder.

"Alphonse is _mine_! _MINE_! Give him to Chaser!" he snarled, starting to walk closer.

"Go away, Chaser! I can find Alphonse myself! I don't need you! We don't want you!" Alphonse yelled.

"Give him to me!" he growled, lunging towards them.

Roy shot a small stream of fire towards him and Chaser screamed, jumping back.

"Blue man spits hot stuff! Evil!" He looked up, the sun glinting off his eyes. "Eeeeeviiiil…"

"Get out of here! Tell your 'Mommy' that the military will never give Alphonse back to her. If she wants him back, why doesn't she come herself and not send a creature like you."

Chaser seemed taken aback by the comment and for the first time since Alphonse had known the alter ego of his brother, Chaser looked crestfallen.

"Chaser… Chaser cannot help what has been done. Bright light goes through skin and cracks bones. Chaser cannot help what has been done…"

Roy blinked in confusion. Chaser hissed in the back of his throat and walked backwards.

"Mommy will not be happy with Chaser. Will not get treats because of Trick."

He ran away before Roy could ask what he meant but turned to Alphonse and bent down to him.

"What did he mean?"

"I don't know…"

"He said that a bright light goes through him."

"I think he's talking about when Mommy makes him get in the alchemy circle after they give him the stuff that turns him into Chaser."

"Is he in a lot of pain?"

"I don't know. Chaser never says he is and Ed never mentions it either… you hurt his feelings."

Roy looked down at the boy. "What?"

"You hurt Chaser's feelings… I've never seen someone do that to him before."

"How is that possible?"

"I dunno; I just saw his face and he looked really sad."

Roy sighed and held out his hand.

"Come on, let's hurry up and get to a safer place."

"Roy?"

"Yes, Alphonse."

"You'll save Brother, right? I know Chaser is scary and… even I said some mean things to him today, but he really can't help it. Chaser is still my brother and I have to save him."

"I'll see what we can do about it, but if he keeps threatening you, then I can't help him. He has to want me to help him."

Alphonse nodded and they headed to the office.

* * *

Chaser crawled into the warehouse and sat in the dark corner of the room. He was very confused. Why did Mommy send him to get Alphonse if Trick was already there to get Al too? Usually Mommy didn't use them both.

"You don't have Trick with you." A voice said in the darkness.

"Trick with blue men."

"I _told_ you to get him back!" Mommy growled, standing up from her table.

Chaser hissed as he drew himself in closer.

"Blue man with hot snap-snap threw it at me. It was hot."

"Do you know what's hot right now?" Mommy grabbed Chaser's hair and he screamed. "My _temper_! I've had it up to here with your excuses and this horrid wall of hair you insist on having! If it is obstructing your view, which it seems to do quite often, then how about I just cut it all off?"

Chaser screeched. "No! No, Chaser needs it! He needs it!"

"Then if you need it so badly," Mommy snarled, throwing Chaser down. "Then don't make it hinder you from doing your job!"

Chaser shook on the ground from the impact of her throw. Mommy walked around for a minute as Chaser curled in on himself.

"Trick makes Chaser not get treats. Trick hurts Chaser by not coming home… Hurt… hurrrrt…"

"Shut the fuck up, Chaser." Mommy snarled.

Chaser hissed but did as she asked. He then remembered that Trick was getting Alphonse.

"Mommy."

"I told you to be quiet."

"Chaser has a question."

She scoffed. "Make it quick."

"Trick said he was looking for Alphonse… why did Mommy send Chaser?"

Mommy was quiet for a moment when Chaser felt like the wind was knocked out him and curled into the tightest ball he could ever imagine. The pain radiated through his entire body and tears began to escape his eyes. Chaser tried to stop them but he was too late.

"Do you really think that I would send Trick to find Alphonse? Do you not know me well enough to know that only you are the one that I send to find Alphonse? What the hell does Trick have to do with your mission? If Trick was there, it was because _you_ failed to bring him back not once, but twice." With the silence, Mommy lifted Chaser's head with a handful of hair and frowned. "You've ruined your face again."

"Chaser doesn't like to cry."

"I'm sure you don't. Now you have acid tear trails."

Chaser sniffled as the tear finally dripped off of his chin. Mommy smiled and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Let's put a little something on those scars to ease the pain."

She dragged Chaser to the small kitchen in the facility and pulled out a bottle of something.

"This will suck out the impurities." She said and sprinkled it on the wound.

Chaser screamed as the salt entered the wounds and grabbed his face.

"Stop! Stop!"

Mommy grabbed hold of Chaser's hands and stared him in the eyes.

"You will do what I tell you to do, do you understand? That is why I created you, so that you would do what I wanted you to do. If I tell you that salt will help your scars, then you best accept my decision. I'm only doing these things for your safety, Chaser."

After the salt, she poured some liquid on a rag and put it to his scars. He yelped and got up, glaring at her.

"Chaser, get back here."

"You hurt Chaser!"

"A little vinegar never hurt anyone." She said, looking at the bottle.

"Chaser hurts already! Why hurt more?"

Mommy sighed and rolled her eyes.

"It's time for you to go back to being Edward. I'm tired of you today… Go get in the circle and no procrastinating."

Chaser eased his way over to the transmutation circle and Mommy activated the circle. Chaser screamed and it was all over in a second. He lay there trembling, covering his face.

"Can you hear me, Edward?"

"Yes."

"Good. Go back to your room and I will give you further instructions."

He didn't move but eventually, he shuffled back to his room, which was actually a very large cage.

 **Mommy, needs to die.**

"Stop saying that, Chaser." Edward whispered as he got into the cage. A guard closed it and he huddled up in his little thin blanket.

 **Edward can't see but Chaser can. Chaser sees all.**

"I just want Al back. I promised to get him back…"

 **Bright lights come through our skin and take things from us… Blue man protect Trick. He shoot fire.**

"He might know where Alphonse is though."

 **No trust outside people. We find him ourselves.**

"Mommy would get mad if I tried to ask…"

 **Run away.**

Edward laughed a little. "She'd kill me."

 **We would get away. Chaser protects Edward and Edward finds Alphonse. Blue man would tell Edward...**

Edward curled up in a ball.

"I can't do that. Mommy would find us."

 **Blue man protects Trick, could help Edward. Chaser a creature… Blue man hates Chaser.**

"They don't understand." He said, snuggling in the blanket. "I'm tired."

 **We need to kill Mommy.**

"We can't do that, Chaser…" Edward whispered, falling asleep.

* * *

 **poor ed. there's more to him than just ed and chaser. chaser can't help what he's become and actually views himself as a protector for ed, almost like another personality would. chaser is kind of like a forced split personality but ed knows about him. but only ed can talk to chaser, chaser can't talk to ed internally. either way, maybe ed can escape?**

 **and chaser is trying to tell edward that if he went as himself, as edward, roy might be more apt to tell him things while as chaser, no one wants to tell him anything. so he doesn't trust people from the outside but chaser knows people would trust edward more than him**


	5. Chapter 5

**sorry about the jumping but we get a little more info into chaser's character**

* * *

"Hey, Al, Roy…" Maes said, walking into the office later that day.

Alphonse smiled from the floor where he was coloring and Roy glanced up.

"Maes."

"I just came to see how you guys were handling up. No more Chaser, right?"

"Nope." Al said with a grin. Maes smiled. "Mr. Maes, am I gonna live with Roy?"

Roy looked at his friend as Maes smiled.

"That's really up to Roy. Do you have any other relatives that you remember?"

"What's that?"

"People who are in your family like an uncle or a cousin…"

"No, I don't think we do. Our dad left us but we don't know where he is and then those people killed our mom and then made us come with them. I don't know about any other people."

"Then I guess you'll be living with Roy."

"Yay!" he said, going back to coloring.

Maes smiled at Roy, who was glaring at him, and then motioned for him to come out to the hallway to talk with him for a moment.

* * *

Al wasn't paying attention when he felt something behind him. He stiffened and felt something touching him softly.

"Trick or treat…" it breathed softly into his ear.

Al trembled as he turned and found Chaser staring at him.

"I found you." He whispered.

* * *

Roy walked back into the room and saw that Alphonse was gone. He looked everywhere for him and realized that he wasn't there at all. He called for him up and down the hallway, checking in the bathroom just in case but the boy wouldn't come out. Roy thought for a moment and wondered where in the world he could have gone. He knew that Alphonse didn't seem like he wanted to leave his side, even asking Maes just moments ago if he was going to stay with him… He grabbed his coat and headed out, telling his superior he went to look for Al.

* * *

Al was thrown against the wall and his sight was blurry for a moment, his head light.

"Chaser take Trick back to Mommy and she let Ed go." Chaser 'explained' as he stared at Alphonse through his waterfall of hair.

Al coughed and sat up on his elbow.

"What do you mean?"

"Mommy says if Chaser gets Trick then Chaser gets treat! Edward gets treat!" he said with a happy smile. "Chaser gets treat, Edward gets treat! Treat, treat, treat treat treat…" Chaser sang.

"What kind of treat?"

Chaser stopped singing for a moment and turned his head, thinking.

"Chaser doesn't know."

"Mommy isn't very nice."

"Chaser knows." He said with a glare.

"Then how good could the treat be? You know that Mommy is really mean and says things to make us think she's nice, but she really isn't."

Chaser turned his head again. "Lie."

"What?"

"Lies."

"What do you mean? You've seen it…"

Chaser didn't do anything for a second and then started crawling towards Alphonse, getting very close and almost in his face.

"Why was Trick with blue men? You left and Mommy told Chaser to come after you like Chaser always does… You ran very far."

"I know and I don't know how you keep coming here so quickly when it took me three days to get here."

"Chaser fast." He said with a shrug.

Alphonse frowned. "Mommy did something, didn't she?"

Chaser hissed, backing up a little.

"Mustn't ask questions!"

"What did Mommy do? Did she put more stuff in that stuff she shoots you with?"

Chaser didn't say anything again and Alphonse wasn't sure where he stood on that when Chaser got really close to his face again. He looked straight into Alphonse's eyes and then lift his hand, finger to his lips.

"Ssshhh… Chaser wants to help Edward."

"Edward?" Alphonse said, eager to see his brother again. "What do you mean?"

"If Chaser takes Trick back to Mommy, Mommy will not ask for Chaser for a long time… Ed can heal."

"Heal?"

A shot rang out and Chaser screeched a loud obnoxious screech and seemed to fly back from Alphonse. Al looked over and saw that it was Roy and Maes, Maes holding the gun. Chaser hissed angrily at them but when he tried to get away, he found that he couldn't. It hurt too bad to put pressure on his arm and looked down. He touched the wound with his other hand and stared at the blood in confusion and fear.

Roy ran to Alphonse as Maes kept Chaser at bay.

"Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" he asked, looking all over him.

"I hit my head but… that's all."

"What happened?"

"Chaser grabbed me and I couldn't get away. He's really strong…"

Roy looked back at Chaser, who looked in pain. He got up and went over to him as Chaser hissed and gargled, trying to comprehend his wound.

"Chaser."

"Blue men go pew pew! Blue men mean! Meeeeeaaaaan…." He hissed.

"I'm sorry that I shot you."

"Blue man shoots fire, fwoosh!" he said, looking at Roy. "Fire hurts, pew pew hurts… everyone hurts Chaser! Chaser just chases! That's what Chaser was made for!" he screamed.

"Who made you?"

"Mommy. I save Alphonse. If I save Al, Edward is saved. Edward gets treats, Chaser gets treats…"

"Mommy made you? How does she do that?"

"No talk to blue man with fwoosh. Blue man hurt Chaser." He growled.

"Would you like for me to-"

"Give Trick to Chaser. I chase Trick and bring back to Mommy. That's what Chaser does. If Trick no with Chase again… Mommy won't trick just Chaser." He said, looking away.

Alphonse's eyes widened. "What do you mean, Chaser?"

"Chaser's last chance to get Trick. If Chaser doesn't work, Mommy will hurt Chaser… and hurt Edward."

Roy and Al looked at each other as Chaser backed up a little.

"Chaser can't stay now. Blue man go pew pew… Pew pew…" he mumbled, running away very quickly and Alphonse stared after him in awe of his speed.

Alphonse looked at Roy as he picked him up and touched his head softly.

"Are you alright? I know you said you hit your head…"

"It still hurts a little. Roy, we have to save Ed."

"Of course we'll save him."

"No… I mean from Chaser."

"I know. Let's get you looked at."

The two walked away from the alley and headed to the clinic to make sure Al's head was alright.

* * *

Chaser fumbled and tripped, landing on his hurt shoulder. He screeched in pain and laid there for a moment, wondering what to do. He had lost his purpose, Alphonse wouldn't come with him and the people who protected him had nasty weapons that pierced his skin and hurt him. The blue men had fire. He just wanted to do what he was created to do and he wanted to get away from Mommy. He wanted to protect Edward from Mommy as much as he could, but all it got them both was pain.

With great difficulty, Chaser got up off of the ground and headed towards the hideout where Mommy was and climbed the wall to get to the entrance. His arm gave out on him while he was climbing through and he ended up falling about a story onto the ground and right onto his shoulder. He screamed in pain from not only the aggravated gunshot wound but his most likely now broken shoulder.

"What the hell was that?!" someone yelled angrily.

Chaser didn't do anything and just waited, too afraid to move and too in pain to make any other sounds. He heard the sound of footsteps behind him and then saw someone kneel next to him.

"Chaser? What are you doing on the ground?"

"Blue men go pew pew… hurt Chaser…"

"You got yourself shot, you little piece of shit?"

"Chaser no get anything… blue men do it all their own… Try to get Trick but pew pew… pew pew…"

Mommy scoffed and stood back up, walking away and then coming back, pacing.

"I thought when I created you that I was going to get a completely obedient assassin, someone who would do anything for their brother… and yet what I have is a sniveling creature who defies me at every turn!" she screamed, kicking Chaser over.

She put her foot on his shotgun wound and pressed down, making Chaser scream even more as she leaned over him in his face.

"You miserable piece of flesh! We should have killed you and your brother along with your mother! I don't know why I listened to them when they wanted us to keep you for your stupid alchemy! You're crazy already!"

Chaser tried to keep himself from crying as he watched Mommy from the floor.

"Why… Why was Chaser made if you needed Edward?"

Mommy looked at him and frowned, leaning into his shoulder.

"Edward is still too fragile for us to use properly. Trauma and all that stupid psychiatric stuff; so I was told that I needed to find a better use for your body… and so I made my own concoction that would enable you to be of some use… But it looks like all I did was make another useless thing."

Chaser shook from the pain and fear of what was going to happen.

"What… what will you do with Chaser?"

Mommy smiled down at him.

"I think Chaser needs a time out. He hasn't been doing his job right and those who can't do what they are told get punished." She glared at Chaser and gave him a cruel smile. " _Chaser gets no treats_."

* * *

Edward was put into the cage and shivered uncontrollably. He didn't understand why he had been hit and kicked, or why his shoulder was wet and hurt so much. He tried to ask Chaser but it seemed that either the odd voice in his head was asleep or was ignoring him. Knowing him, Chaser was probably ignoring him. He leaned on the back of the cage and looked out of the bars, wishing he knew where Alphonse was… He noticed that Trick wasn't there and wondered how long he had been gone. When he blacked out, he never knew what happened. This time though… this time he remembered something. He remembered seeing blue coats. He wasn't sure what that meant, but for some reason it was there in his memory and he didn't remember seeing them. It had to be for _something_.

Edward touched his shoulder and touched the wound that was there. His shoulder felt stiff but he couldn't seem to register the pain. He knew that when he woke up the next morning, he was going to be sore. He wished he knew why his eyesight was getting blurry…

The next time Edward woke up, he was being carried. He didn't know by whom but he seemed alright with that. He liked being held. It reminded him of his mother.

* * *

 **uh oh, where is he going? who has him? sorry it was short and jumpy but things gotta get moving, shaky as they may be**

 **also, i don't think i expounded enough on it, but in this universe, ed only lost his leg and when he brought back al, he actually lost some of his sanity. that trauma actually made mommy have to make chaser, someone able to push back the traumas. he is a man-made split personality. ed may seem okay for the moment, but he is still not okay in the head.**


	6. Chapter 6

**i have a feeling this is going to be the new BROKEN. so... yeah... and btw, i never actually expounded on it, but edward actually does have a metal leg. it's not automail, just metal. he lost his leg when he tried to bring trisha back but did not lose his arm for al, he lost his mind.**

* * *

The first thing that jarred Edward awake was some jerking motions. The second thing was when he landed on his shoulder and he cried out in pain. The last thing he remembered was being carried but now he didn't know where he was. He had slept (was unconscious) most of the time from when someone had picked him up to now, so he had no idea where he was. He tried to get up but the pain in his shoulder made him buckle back to the ground.

"Get up you little piece of shit." Someone gnarled, yanking Edward by the hurt arm.

He yelped again as he was lifted to his feet and he felt a hard smack to the face, making him real backwards but stay in place due to the firm hold on his arm. It also made him see stars to add to his already blurry vision.

"Every time I do something with you, you have to make a noise like a little mouse. Stand _up_ you useless creature!"

Edward tried to get his bearings but the dizziness made it hard to grasp his footing. He finally did though and after a minute he felt the hand let him go. He thanked God for that and looked up, seeing Mommy glaring at him as she tapped her foot.

"Do you know where you are?"

"N-no…" he whispered.

"You're in the middle of Central. Do you know why you're here?"

"No…"

"It's because you've become so fucking useless that even my bosses don't want to do anything with you anymore. You, as Edward, are useless and you as Chaser, are useless. Everything about you, this body, and your mind are completely _useless_!"

Edward was starting to get a better grip on his balance and looked up at Mommy with a fearful expression.

"I'm trying really hard, Mommy! Honest!"

"No you're not. If you were, then wouldn't Alphonse be with you now? Wouldn't you have had him back?"

"Those bad men never have him. Chaser does what Mommy says but he always says that the bad men don't have Al…"

"How is it _my_ problem that you're too slow to catch up with the person who took him when I send you out? Huh? Chaser screws around too much."

"M-maybe _I_ could try…"

Mommy cackled a laugh that made Edward swallow hard.

"You? Little Edward Elric? The broken baby alchemist?" She cackled again. "You could hardly think at all before I created Chaser to take away all the bad little memories you have. What makes you think you could do what Chaser couldn't? Hmm? Without him, you're a useless hunk of flesh that has no purpose in his world."

Edward felt tears and wished he could stop them. Mommy hated tears.

"But… but I'm okay… I can think…"

"It's only a matter of time before that ridiculous thing you think of as a trauma hits you again and you'll not only be a hunk of useless flesh, but a driveling, crying, catatonic hunk of useless flesh."

"What's that mean?"

"It means all you'll do is just sit there without seeing the world. A vegetable. Paralyzed by your own fear of the past."

Edward really didn't know what to do and he wasn't sure what vegetables had to do with it, but it was cold, he had no shoes or a jacket, and this conversation was getting confusing.

"I'm sorry, Mommy. I'm sorry if I made you mad. I'm sorry if Chaser made you mad. But we're trying really hard and Chaser does too. I know he does…"

Mommy turned her nose up at him and crossed her arms.

"Begging won't work this time, kid. I've got a job to do and you're fucking it up with these half-assed attempts and doing your job. My instructions were to leave you to find your own way. So this is me, leaving you."

Mommy began to walk away and Edward panicked, running after her.

"Mommy, no! Mommy, I'm sorry! Please don't leave me out here! PLEASE!" he screamed, grabbing her by the coattails.

Mommy turned around and threw him off of her, making him collide into a dumpster and slink to the ground. In pain and so confused, Edward didn't bother to get back up as he whimpered on the ground from the hit and his already wounded shoulder. He watched Mommy walk back to her car and then it drive away.

The heavy feeling of the air as snow approached weighed on Edward like an anvil as he tried to figure out what he should do. Since he'd been kidnapped, he never really got to use his own body and mind, usually Chaser taking over at some point in time. He hadn't been outside like this since Trisha died… being locked up in that cage every night. His whole body ached from the shotgun wound (that had not been tended) to the bruises he knew he would be getting from the dumpster, to- Edward looked at his side and reached over to see what it was when he cried out in pain. He had done something to his ribs. And it was going to start snowing very, very soon.

Where would he go?

What could he do?"

 _Edward needs to listen to Chaser now._

Edward blinked a little. "Chaser?"

 _Chaser here._

"You didn't answer me before…"

 _Chaser was asleep. Edward needs to get up and let Chaser help._

"I can't let you."

 _Listen to Chaser!_ he yelled.

Edward smiled a little. His alternate self was a piece of work…

 _Get up, Edward Elric, you must walk._

"My feet are cold and it's gonna snow."

 _Just do what Chaser say._

Edward tried to reach up and grab the edge of the dumpster but he was too short and moving his arm up hurt his rib. He hissed and leaned against the dumpster, trying to hold in the pain. Chaser waited on the edge of Edward's consciousness unusually patient.

"I can't get up!" Edward wailed, tears beginning to fall again. "Mommy will get mad-"

 _Mommy isn't here. Mommy left Chaser and Mommy left Edward. We got our treats!_

"We got our _tricks_ , Chaser! We didn't get any treats at all! _You're_ not hurt!"

Chaser didn't say anything for a minute as Edward tried to figure out how to stand.

 _Chaser is hurt all the time to protect Edward. Chaser got shot by pew pew and almost get burned by blue man who throws fire. Chaser get hurt so Edward no get hurt. I protect Edward._

Edward really couldn't deny that but it still didn't help his current predicament.

 _Edward need to listen to Chaser now. Chaser remember place but no can help if Edward don't listen._

Edward sniffled again but wiped his nose.

"Okay…"

 _Edward has to get up._

Edward nodded, knowing that too. He breathed in and forced himself onto his feet. Once there, he leaned on the wall and tried to breath but his ribs were hurting him.

 _Now follow Chaser where I tell Ed to go._

Edward nodded and slowly made his way out of the alley he had been in and to the streets. He hadn't realized it until then but it was the middle of the night. There were no cars and no people, just darkness, cold, and the threat of snow.

"Where are we?"

 _Trick is here. We find Trick, we find treats. Blue men nice to Trick, they be nice to Edward._

"They weren't nice to you…"

 _Chaser scary but Chaser does was Chaser made for. Blue men think Chaser is bad… but they no think Edward is bad. Edward look like Trick and Chaser will go away soon._

Edward's eyes widened. "What… what do you mean?"

 _Chaser made by Mommy and pokey juice. Mommy no give pokey juice to Edward, Chaser no more._

Edward thought about that for a second.

"So what Mommy said about my brain… will… will that happen?"

 _Chaser protect Edward from pain… body and inside head. If Chaser no here then… what Mommy say is true. Only truth Mommy has said ever._ he said solemnly, seeming to back into the darkness of Edward's mind. _Edward just let Chaser tell him walk-places and Edward be safe._

The adrenaline (what little he had had) was beginning to wear off and Edward's wounds were getting to him as well as his leg stump. The first signs of snow started coming down and the wind picked up as well. Edward made his way down the path that Chaser told him, trying to keep himself together.

* * *

After walking all night in the snow with no jacket, no shoes, and very little guidance to go on (Chaser couldn't see with the snow), Edward could no longer go any further. His beaten body was sore from the cold and wind, his gunshot wound was not looking well, and his leg froze up, causing him to exert more than usual strength to drag it.

All in all, Edward decided life sucked. He hated Mommy, but without her, all he could do was reflect on her words. He _was_ just a useless piece of flesh and since he couldn't find Alphonse, Chaser would leave him, and Mommy abandoned him, if what Mommy said was true then even his brain would turn against him.

Edward tripped and fell into the snow, shivering hard.

 _Edward must get up!_ Chaser yelled.

Edward couldn't respond. His body was so cold that trying to talk was impossible for the chattering of his teeth. The snow was blowing on him and he wanted to curl up, but that was too hard.

 _There is a box over there._ Chaser said and Edward looked over. _If Edward get to box, he be not on ground. Box is better than white wet stuff._

Despite the pain, that was the only thing that actually made any sense to Edward. He breathed in one last time and got on his hands and knees, crawling to the box. He pulled it to its side and shimmied in. It was big enough to fit him but not his metal leg. He left it hanging outside of the flaps of the box and shivered. For the first time, he smiled. He was blocked by the wind and snow and it was definitely warmer.

Chaser could feel Edward's consciousness leaving and tried to say one last thing before the darkness took over.

 _Chaser always help Edward… Edward on his own now but Chaser always save him. Trick will help… Trust Trick. He is only trick you can trust and only trick that will give you treats._

The darkness engulfed Edward and he passed out.

* * *

Roy was snoring loudly in his bed when he felt something like an earthquake and jumped up.

"It's snowing! It's snowing!" Alphonse yelled, jumping up and down on Roy's bed. "Do you see it?! It's snowing, Roy!"

He yawned and sat up, grabbing Alphonse to him. He tickled him, causing him to scream in delight, and he scrambled from Roy to the window.

"Look!"

Roy stood up and walked over to the window, looking out over Al.

"We don't get many snow days in Central. At least not this heavy."

"Can you play in it?"

"Of course you can, but it's very cold." He shivered. "I need to turn the radiator one and get it warm."

"Why can't you make fire with your fingers?"

"Because I'd burn the whole house down, silly."

"Oh yeah!"

"We're going to have to let you stay with Ms. Gracia today because Maes and I need to go out on missions. We won't be able to watch you at the office."

"Aw, I wanted to stay with you."

"You'll be fine with Gracia. Plus, she's a better cook than I am, so she can make you breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert."

"Ooh…" Alphonse said with big eyes of excitement.

"That is if you hurry. If not, a piece of toast will have to do."

Alphonse ran from the room and Roy smiled a little. He wasn't fond of children that much but he would never turn a child away. He didn't think he would ever care for one at all but here he was, caring for a child that wasn't his own and actually enjoying it. Despite the issue Alphonse had gone through, somehow he had a tenacity about him that helped Roy forget the horrors he had done and focus on Alphonse's happiness.

He turned the radiator on to warm the house up and began to get dressed himself. He really didn't want to go on this mission, but in order to move up the ranks, he had to make himself look willing to do anything without seeming brown-nosy. It was a hard task to accomplish, but so far it worked well with him.

* * *

Roy wrapped a scarf around Alphonse's neck an tucked the tails into his little coat.

"You ready?"

"Uh huh!"

Roy put his own scarf on and thick military jacket and headed out the door. As they descended the front steps -Alphonse insisting on jumping them which prompted Roy to hold his hand to keep him from slipping- Roy looked over and saw a box in front of his house. He frowned at it and looked at the pile of trash that was next to his neighbor's home and then the box again.

"I told that guy to keep his trash on his side of the boundary…" he grumbled.

He walked over to the box when he noticed something metal hanging out of it. He turned his head and bent down, lifting the flap of the box. He gasped and fell into the snow on his butt, soaking his pants and jacket. Alphonse thought he was playing and flopped onto his legs.

"Whatcha doin, Roy?"

Roy swallowed a little and moved Alphonse from him, going to his knees and opening the flap again. Alphonse looked in and his eyes got wide.

"Brother?"

* * *

 **to quote chaser, it looks like finding Trick really did find him some treats. how bad off he is is a different story but at least he was found.**

 **and chaser had always been something mommy had created with alchemy and if she doesn't inject her serum and mix it with her transmutation circle, chaser will not exist. edward had no gone insane or had traumatic flashbacks or whatever because chaser keeps his brain safe. without chaser, edward WILL have PTSD**

 **that means he'll have to get over no just trisha dying, alphonse's supposed kidnapping, but also mommy's abuse, his assassinating skills, etc. so rough road ahead for our baby golden alchemist**


	7. Chapter 7

**body heat is something most people use to convert heat quicker to a person who is freezing. at the age al is, he shouldn't know how that works in the medical sense. as with most people, you get the sense bodies close together make heat but to know how to use it is a different story so yeah...**

 **oh and for the some reason the doc in my head sounded country...**

* * *

Roy looked at Al as Al looked in the box.

"Brother? You mean Edward? Er, uh, Chaser?"

"Chaser is what Mommy made him… this is Edward."

Roy immediately got out of the snow and grabbed the box to flip it upward, the open end pointing to the sky. He then reached in and grabbed Edward up, the metal leg making him weigh more than he should.

"We won't be going anywhere today, Al. Go and open the door for me and call Maes. His number is right on the table."

Al nodded and ran back to Roy's apartment as Edward practically laid limp in his arms. It scared him, really. What if the kid was already gone? How would Alphonse handle finally seeing his brother but his brother was already an icicle?

"The door's locked, Roy." Alphonse said, jumping up and down.

Roy cursed under his breath as he climbed the stairs.

"Here, my keys are in my pocket. It's the odd shaped one."

Al rummaged in his pocket and found the keys, picking out the one for the door and unlocking it. Roy practically ran the kid over as he opened the door with his elbow and headed to the couch. He laid Edward on it as Alphonse put the number into the rotary phone slowly, saying the numbers as he did. Roy found as many blankets as he could and threw the bundle on the table in front of the couch.

"Roy, Maes wants to talk to you." Al said.

"Can you make something of those blankets? Get him warmed up."

Al nodded and quickly went over to his brother to fix the blankets. He had been afraid that Edward was dead but the heat of the apartment seemed to make him come alive enough to start shivering. Al pulled his soaking pants off as well as the thin shirt. He also pulled off the underwear and threw them into a pile on the floor. Al grabbed a thin blanket and lifted his brother up to put under him and then wrapped him in it. Then he took another and put it on top of him, wrapping him in it again. He took his coat off and stripped down to his underwear while grabbing the third blanket. He climbed onto the couch and moved the blankets around until he felt his brother's cold arm. He then threw the blanket over the two of them and held his brother close, trying to keep him from shivering.

* * *

Roy turned back but didn't see Alphonse. He looked around for a moment.

"Al? Al, where are you?"

"I'm here." He said, popping up from the covers.

"What are you doing?"

"Body heat."

"Roy, are you listening?" Maes said.

Roy made a face but turned back to the phone.

"Yeah, I'm listening."

"Anyway, how are you going to get out of this mission? It's a pretty important one."

"I'll tell them I've got the runs or something from food poisoning."

"Didn't you use that as your last excuse?"

Roy frowned. "I haven't used that excuse at all! What are you talking about?"

"Just making sure you aren't being lazy."

"Why would I be lazy when I'm trying to aspire? I find that sad coming from you…"

Maes chuckled. "I'll call Gracia and let her know Al won't be coming. She'll be disappointed. She'll probably make something and bring it by, knowing her. _Especially_ when she finds out what Al has a brother."

"You going to come over here when you're done?"

"Yeah, we can't both be missing."

"I'm sorry to trouble you about all of this."

"It's no problem at all. The good thing is that we got the kid from whoever that Mommy bitch is. That's one hurdle."

"Well I think the problem is going to be the aftermath of what she's done and anything else that could be swimming around in his little head. I mean, Al said that before Mommy took them Edward's mind wasn't the same. We have no idea what's lurking in there."

"Understandable. Just keep me posted."

Maes hung up and Roy walked over to the bundle on the couch. Alphonse looked up at him and Roy made a face.

"I'm not mad, but how do you know about body heat? That's something a kid shouldn't really know about in the survival aspect."

"Brother taught it to me. I told you he was really smart before Mommy did what she did and he had read about it before. We even tried it once while our mom was alive. She let us make a camp outside the house and Brother wanted to test it out. It worked but he said he didn't like me being on him, so we ended up going back inside." He said with a slight smile.

Roy looked at Edward as he trembled, not shaking as violently as he was since he 'thawed out'. He put the back of his hand on Edward's forehead and he felt as cold as ice.

"I'll have to call a doctor to take a look at him. He'll ask what happened… Should I tell him?"

Alphonse thought for a second. He didn't know how Edward escaped or if he even did. It was odd that he happened to show up in front of Roy's house when he didn't even know where it was. He may have been bait for a setup. What Mommy would want with Roy was beyond him, but Mommy didn't know where Roy lived… unless Chaser said something… It all seemed rather forced to Al.

"Just… say he got lost in the woods or something. I don't think it would be a good idea to say what really happened."

Roy nodded. "I'll figure something out."

* * *

The doctor took out the earpieces of his stethoscope and put the back of his hand on Edward's forehead.

"Looks like he caught a small case of hypothermia being out there all night and all. If you hadn't found him, he would have probably died by the end of the day today. Poor kid looks like he's suffered something fierce. And you said you found him wandering the streets?" he said, looking at Roy with a disbelieving look.

Roy crossed his arms. "He probably had a bad home life and ran away or something. I mean, he didn't have any shoes on or a coat. He probably stole something and was shot at, hence the wound."

"Well it's a good thing you found him." He reached over and took the thermometer from Edward's mouth. "His temperature is still pretty low. You'll need to get his body temperature back up to normal. Using your boy to give him body heat was a good idea."

"Thank you… How long before he gets back to core temperature?"

"I'd say a couple of hours at least. Keep the apartment warm, keep him wrapped up. The other boy doesn't have to stay with him but I would definitely keep him covered to the neck. In fact, I'd even cover his head so that heat doesn't escape. I'd suggest a heating pad if you have one but only on top of the blankets. The only problem is that once he reaches core temperature, his body is going to react to the gunshot wound, broken shoulder, and the fractured ribs."

"Fractured ribs?" Roy asked, frowning.

"Yup. I got the bullet out of the arm but there's a lot of bruising around his rib cage area. I can't feel too much around it but by looking at the size of the bruise and how small he is, most likely the ribs are fractured. That being said, I can't give him anything for the pain until he's back to core temperature. The hypothermia is almost like an icepack for him, numbing the pain, but obviously he can't stay cold like that. Once he gets to core temperature, the body will react to the pain and most likely he'll go into a fever. You'll have to call me so that I can get an accurate measure of his pain tolerance and give you something for him. Doing it now, I could overdose him."

"Right, I understand. What about food and drink? Should I try or is it too soon?"

"I'd stick with broths and maybe a little something soft like eggs or a tiny piece of boiled chicken. Mostly broth, though."

"Okay."

The doctor gathered his stuff and left as Roy led him to the door. Once gone, Alphonse watched him from the chair as he pulled back the covers to see what bruising the doctor had been talking about. Sure enough, the whole side of his Edward's chest was nothing but a nasty back and blue bruise. Alphonse came over and looked at his brother.

"Mommy kicked him or threw him into something."

"We need a different name for that bitch besides 'Mommy'. That word is for a woman who loves her child and would do anything for it. That woman who makes you use that name is making you misunderstand what a real parent is. She's cursing what a real mommy is."

"That's all we know her by and that's all Ed will know her by. We can't confuse him anymore cuz I know he'll be really confused when he wakes up."

Roy sighed, knowing Al was right. Until Edward was able to comprehend that he was safe and that Mommy wasn't anything like a real mother, they would have to use the misnomer until they could find a proper name to call her. _I'd call her Heartless Bitch, but Maes would hit me for making the kids say it…_ He touched Al on the head and he looked up at him.

"How about I make a little breakfast? I'll scramble some eggs and maybe you can try and feed Edward a tiny bit of them?"

"Okay!"

* * *

Since Roy couldn't go in, he decided to look over some reports at the dining table. Alphonse fell asleep on the other side of the couch with Edward and Edward was bundled up like a Briggs soldier. Roy had taken the liberty of finding his heating pad and filled it with water, warming it up. He set it on top of the blankets and turned the downstairs radiator on. Now he was getting tired again, the silence, the warmth… the boring report.

A knock startled him and he fumbled as he got up to go the door. He looked in the hole and opened up, finding Gracia with a pot of something.

"Hey, Maes said that you had found Al's brother and I had already planned on making soup for the cold day."

"That's perfect, thank you." He said, letting her in.

Gracia went to the kitchen and set the pot on the stove.

"I'm sorry, but I can't stay. I have to go back to the shop. My boss said I had enough time to just bring this over. She thought you were Maes and so she let me come."

"I see. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, would you mind making me some broth for Edward? The doctor said it would be the best for now until he's back on his feet."

"Sure thing. I'll set some aside after work when I make dinner."

"You're the best, Gracia. I can understand why Maes enjoys you so much."

Gracia blushed immensely. "He- he doesn't say _that_."

Roy smiled as she left and realized that Gracia was one of the few women he didn't flirt with at all. Maybe it was his respect for Maes… or maybe it was his respect for Maes as a _killer_. Either way, he found no attraction to her nor any desire to try and woo her. He shrugged. She was a good woman and definitely Maes' type. She's also be a good mother, that Roy could already tell.

* * *

After desperately trying to withstand the comfortable atmosphere, Roy finally decided to give in at about midday. _We can have the soup for supper…_ he thought. He grabbed up Alphonse and took him upstairs to his bed and laid him down. He turned the radiator on in there to warm up the room but also cracked the window just enough to let in some of the cool air. He then went back down and turned the radiator off in the living room and gently picked up Edward. The blankets made it cumbersome but he wasn't going to leave the kid down there by himself. He placed him between him and Alphonse and stole a blanket from him to throw over all three of them since he didn't pull down the bed when he put Al on it. The air was just right and he fell asleep.

* * *

 **something sweet amongst all this drama. and this happens to me all the time when i'm trying to type. i dont' have a desk set up and i get cold really easily. i also don't have music/tv on most of the time because it distracts me. so it'll be all nice and warm and silent, got my warm laptop on my lap on top of my blanket on the couch... and zzzzzzzzzzzz. and then i have to move the laptop and take a nap, haha. anyway, it sucks sometimes because it'll hit you at like 3pm. but i thought it would be a nice 'father' moment between roy and the boys and like a said, some sweetness amid the dramatic. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**edward's frame of mind switches a lot from higher intellect to not but i mean, his mind is kind of wonky and trying to balance itself out. plus now that chaser is gone, the mind is trying to fix itself anyway it can so that's why his thought process might not seem congruent at all times**

* * *

Warmth.

It was something quite foreign to him but he liked it.

Edward opened his eyes slowly and looked around. He saw he was encompassed in a mass of blankets and looked over to see Trick laying beside him. He looked over again and saw someone he didn't recognize was laying there. Shuffling in the covers, Edward got his arms out and tried to get out of the cocoon of blankets he was in.

"You need some help?" he heard softly.

He turned to see Roy looking at him sleepily. Edward was taken aback by him and shimmied out of the covers and practically throttled Alphonse in order to get away from Roy. Alphonse woke up with a yell as Edward plummeted to the floor. All the abused parts of his body screamed along with him as the hard floor met with his soft skin. He was stunned and just twitched in agony on the floor.

Alphonse and Roy both practically tripped over each other as they tried to get to Edward.

"Hey, can you see me? Did you give yourself a concussion?" Roy asked, cradling Edward in his arms and snapping in his face.

Edward was just really confused and so he started crying. Roy sighed and rubbed his head softly.

"Hey, it's alright. I know you're scared but we won't hurt you. You're safe now."

Edward allowed Roy to hold him close and he leaned on the bed. Alphonse crawled off of it and sat in Roy's lap to help Edward.

"Do you remember me, Ed?" Edward sniffled but nodded a little. "I know he's safe, alright? You don't have to worry anymore."

"Mommy…" he rasped, hardly able to talk.

"She can't hurt you anymore."

Edward didn't really understand that. Mommy was always there… somewhere…

"You need to calm down and then get some proper rest." Roy said softly. "You have a lot of problems from whatever that… whatever _Mommy_ did to you." He seethed. "Right now, though, we have broth for you and soup for us. Are you hungry?"

Edward nodded a little and Roy smiled, standing up. He put Edward back in the bed and wrapped him up tightly.

"Al, stay with him while I heat up some broth."

He nodded as Edward tried to drift to sleep as he didn't understand. _Why did he say Al's name? Does he know where he is?_

* * *

Roy stirred the soup in the pot on the stove when there was a knock on the door. He moved the pot from the eye and went to the door, finding Maes as well as Hawkeye.

"Hawkeye wanted to come as well; I hope you don't mind."

"No, it's fine. How are you, Hawkeye?"

"Well."

Roy smirked at her as he closed the door.

"You're just in time to eat. Gracia brought over this soup and I'm heating it up for the three of us. Edward just woke up but he's not doing alright for the time being. I thought some grub would help him out."

"Indeed. I brought the files from the mission you were supposed to go on with me. You'll never believe what it's about."

"Fill me in then."

"It's in regards to Mommy and her gang." He said, throwing the file onto the table.

"How come this is just coming up now? From what Alphonse told me, he and his brother have been held captive by her for a few years now."

"Apparently with the success of brainwashing and changing Edward, she's been having her henchmen go across the outskirts of the country to try and find more children to kidnap to do her dirty work. We also have confirmation that Mommy is an Ishvalan."

Roy looked back at them and Maes crossed his foot on his knee.

"So she's getting revenge for the Ishvalan War?"

"It doesn't say but that would be my guess. Taking Amestrian children and turning them into unknown assassins against those in Amestris seems like a thorough revenge plot."

Roy made a face as he stirred the soup some more and then dipped out a bowl of thick broth for Edward and a regular bowl of soup for Alphonse.

"I'm going to go check on the boys. You're both welcome to the soup."

He put the soups on a tray along with a pitcher of water and headed back up the stairs.

* * *

Alphonse watched his brother sleep with a content look on his face. It was the first time since Trisha died that Alphonse saw Edward sleeping without a care. Of course, he was pale and looked like he may leave the world at any moment, but the serenity was nice. He moved the covers to try and see about the bruising the doctor had said when Edward moaned and lolled his head over. He opened his eyes slightly.

"Trick…" he said softly.

Al sighed but assumed the role of Trick.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Where are we?" Edward rasped. "Why can't I move right?"

Al lay next to him. "You escaped Mommy and Roy and I found you in a box. You were so cold that you were like an icicle… But Roy bundled you up and brought you inside."

Edward swallowed to ease his sore throat.

"Who's Roy? Where's Mommy?"

"We don't need Mommy. You're safe here. Mommy is the one that did this to you."

"Don't say that. She'll hurt you."

"Ed, Mommy's not here."

The door opened and Alphonse sat up quickly, staring at Roy in fear. Upon seeing him, he relaxed and Roy set the tray down.

"I brought some soup for the both of you." Upon seeing Edward was awake, Roy smiled. "Hello."

Edward pulled the covers over his face as Alphonse smiled a little.

"Brother's shy."

"Don't talk to him, Trick." Edward said muffled under the covers. "Mommy doesn't like us talking with people we don't know."

"Roy is a good guy."

Edward peeked out from the covers and Roy set the bowl of broth on the table beside him. Edward looked at it but narrowed his eyes at Roy.

"I remember you… you… you were in the alley."

"I was."

"You had fire… it shot from your hands."

"It's called flame alchemy. Are you in any pain?"

Edward really didn't understand the question. He was always in some sort of pain… He waited for Chaser to say something but his alter ego was silent. Edward panicked.

"Wh-where's Chaser?"

"What do you mean?"

"He stays in my mind and talks to me. He's not there anymore!"

It took him a minute to realize where Chaser was and then he remembered that Chaser was gone, practically dead. He was a useless piece of flesh that no one wanted because he couldn't do anything right. Tears began to fall and he turned to his side, scrunching up and pulling the covers over his face.

"Don't look at me…" he said softly, crying.

Alphonse looked distressed and Roy sighed, wondering what he was supposed to do with this broken child.

"Al, give me a minute with your brother, okay? Maes is here and brought my friend Hawkeye with him. They are eating soup I think."

Al nodded and took his soup with him.

* * *

Roy sat on the edge of the bed and listened to Edward sniffle under the covers. It took a minute to figure out what he wanted to say.

"Ed?" He didn't do anything. "Edward?"

"What?"

"I'm here to help in any way I can. I know you don't know me and you don't think you can trust me, but I don't want you to be hurt or feel you have to carry a load you can't bear. It's got to be hard for you to understand what compassion is and what empathy is, given your circumstances, but I assure you that I'm here for you and for Alphonse."

"Alphonse is gone… Someone has him."

Roy remembered that Al told him Mommy had Edward convinced that Alphonse was a kid named Trick and that he (as his brother) was being held captive by different people.

"Right… Well… I want to help you find him. I want to help you in general. Mommy didn't do very nice things to you and hurt you in a lot of ways. Is that why you're crying now? Did Mommy do something to you?"

Edward didn't want to remember it and just whimpered. Roy sighed, exasperated by having to repeat himself over and over. _This is why I'm not good with kids…_ he growled in his head.

"Edward…"

"I can't talk to you. You're a stranger…"

Roy decided to give up when he remembered that he still had the gunshot wound in his shoulder. The doctor had said that once he was over the hypothermia that his pain would probably be immense.

"Edward, are you in a lot of pain?"

The covers swiveled but Roy sighed.

"Edward."

"It's okay… I'm- I'm used to it. I'll be alright in the morning. Mommy doesn't like it when I complain."

"Mommy isn't here. That bitch of a woman is nowhere near my house. If she was, I'd burn her to a crisp." Roy seethed, the disgust of Edward's fear of this horrific woman finally getting the best of him.

* * *

Edward peeked over the covers at the black haired man that Trick seemed to trust. Trick was always very trusting of other people… then again, he just broke the rules all the time. Trick was always running away and then Mommy would have to call Chaser to go and find him. If it wasn't for Trick, Edward wouldn't be in so much pain, both physically and mentally.

* * *

 _"You? Little Edward Elric? The broken baby alchemist? You could hardly think at all before I created Chaser to take away all the bad little memories you have. What makes you think you could do what Chaser couldn't? Hmm? Without him, you're a useless hunk of flesh that has no purpose in his world."_

* * *

He was surprised that he missed Chaser being in his head, telling him what to do and being bossy. It was like a part of him was missing now… He frowned.

"It's all Trick's fault." He said.

Roy turned to him. "What?"

"Trick never has treats… Even if Chaser said that he's the only trick with treats, he's wrong. Trick _never_ has treats."

Roy was thoroughly confused.

"What do you mean?"

A loud gurgle filled the room and Edward peeked over to the covers again. Roy smiled a little.

"You're hungry. I brought you some broth to eat. You've been through a rough time, so you'll have to drink broth until you get your strength up."

Roy stirred the broth around and showed it to Edward. Edward made a face at him.

"That's mud."

"No, it's broth… well, right now it looks like gravy because it's thick, but it's the same deal. You need to eat now."

"I'm not hungry." His stomach gurgled again.

"I think your body says you are. I'll feed it to you if you don't think you can hold it."

Edward was going to get up and do it himself when he moved quickly and a horrible pain shot through him from his shoulder and then his side. He cried out loudly and fell back on the mattress, crying.

"Why did you hurt me?! What did Edward ever do to you?!" he screamed, the agony of his ribs making it hard for him to breathe.

Roy grabbed him as gently as he could and cradled him in his arms as Edward sobbed into his shirt.

"It hurts… it hurts…"

"I know, kid. Just calm down a little bit, okay? You're trying to go at life way too fast. You were just found in a box in the middle of a snowstorm with hypothermia. Do you know what that is?"

"When you're really cold and you die." He mumbled.

"Exactly. So that's how we found you. You've been tortured and screwed around with so much that it's second nature to you. Real life doesn't comprehend well in your brain."

"Am I broken?" he asked softly.

Roy didn't really know how to answer that. He thought for a moment and looked down at the boy who was looking at him with less of crazy and more utter confusion. Roy couldn't imagine not knowing how to function.

"You're _fragile_. You might be cracked but you're not broken yet. Unfortunately, we will have to tread very carefully or we will cause you to shatter."

"I don't wanna shatter."

"I don't want you to either. Look, I know I say this a lot but I don't know how many times it will take for you to understand: I'm here to protect you and I'm here to take care of you. I won't do anything to hurt you. My goal is to make you feel loved and try to get you back to normal.

Edward laughed humorlessly as tears fell down his cheeks from the pain he was in.

"I don't think you can make me _that_ better, mister. I know I'm… I'm not okay. I'm not okay in the head."

"And that's okay because we'll all do the best we can… especially me." He ran his fingers through Edward's hair. "I'll protect you in the best way that I can and I will mend you the best way I can. I'm not perfect but I will try my best. You try your best too, alright?"

Edward sobbed into his chest and Roy smiled a little. He pat Edward on the back softly.

"Alright now… I need to call the doctor so that he can give you some pain medication for your ribs and the gunshot wound. In the mean time, would you like some fresh broth?" he said, knowing full well the broth he had was coagulated by now. Edward nodded. "Okay. You stay in bed and I'll warm it up and then come feed you."

He nodded again and Roy left the room almost as exhausted as Edward was, but he knew it was worth it.

* * *

 **trust in roy edward. he may not be your father but he can sure as hell be yer daddy! and what a nice looking bad ass dad to have?**

 **also, keep in mind that technically he still believes that al is being held hostage and that the real al is some kid named trick. effects of reconditioning anyone?**


	9. Chapter 9

**this takes place almost right after the war so there are still really high tensions with them. I mean there were in the anime/manga too but with certain characters by that time they had gotten over it and moved on unlike here.**

* * *

"Well, I can tell you one thing, this kid is going to be hopped up on painkillers for a long while." The doctor said.

"Why do you say that?" Roy asked from the doorframe.

"Kid is beat to hell and back; shoulder wound along with a broken shoulder and fractured ribs? A grown man can hardly handle that let alone a little kid. He's got endurance and seems like he's got a high pain tolerance but if he's ever going to get well, he'll need to be flying as high as a kite."

Roy made a face. "And… how much is all this 'flying' going to cost me? I'm on a budget, ya know. I didn't plan on bringing kids into the bunch until I was at a higher rank and married."

"I'll just charge you for the initial pills. The rest is on me. This kid doesn't need to be in any more pain than he's already going through. If he still needs them by the next diagnosis though, I'm afraid I'll have to charge you. You may be on a budget, but I'm not exactly made of money either to just be paying for medicine for every kid."

"I understand and thank you."

The doctor stood up and handed him a pill bottle.

"These I can give you now for later. These are the more mild pain meds." He handed him a piece of paper. "This stuff you'll have to go to an herbalist for and this you'll have to go to an apothecary for."

Roy took the prescription paper and frowned at them.

"What are you giving him, horse tranquilizer?"

"Practically. The other is for his mental stability."

"What do you mean?"

The doctor grabbed his bag and his hat and headed to the door.

"You didn't think I really believed your story, right? He was abused by someone. His mental faculties might be a little off. The only way to give him what he needs in the way he needs it is for it to be made precisely. That's why you'll have to go to an herbalist for one of them."

"Don't I have to pay these people?"

"Tell them to put it on my tab."

Roy frowned a little as Edward moaned from the bed. His arm was in a sling and was wrapped in bandages. His chest was wrapped in bandages as well in a loose fit so that he could breathe but not enough to cause issues with the ribs.

"Will Brother be okay?" Alphonse asked.

Roy looked down at him and sighed. "In all honesty, I can't tell you. There's so much underneath him that it's really hard to know."

"I get that." Al said softly. "Brother's always been complicated." He looked up at Roy. "Do you have to go to work today?"

"Unfortunately yes, I do. If I don't go I might lose my job and then we'll all be needing pain pills from the hurt we'll be in."

Alphonse smiled and leaned onto Roy's leg.

"Yeah… Roy?"

"Yeah, buddy?"

"When Brother gets really better and we're able to be okay um… um… will you let us stay here?"

Roy looked at the young boy as he looked at him with a pleading look. Roy wished he could keep them with him but he couldn't. Not with so much to do in regards to his own goals and ambitions. Plus he'd have to go through a hell of paperwork to practically adopt them and that also meant getting new housing and a lot of other frivolities that Roy really couldn't handle at his pay grade.

"Until I can find you a better home, yes."

Alphonse's eyes went downcast. "Oh…"

"Don't get me wrong, Al, it has nothing to do with you or your brother's past. It's just I'm not really qualified to be a dad, to take care of kids." It was the best way Roy could put it.

"I think you do alright."

Roy chuckled. "The things I allow you to do probably doesn't ring 'Dad of the Year'. But I won't abandon you two in this. I know Edward needs to get back on his feet physically and mentally and I know you will have to work with him to get him to see you for who you really are. It'll be hard work on everyone's part and I would never leave you to yourself to handle it. I wouldn't even pass you off to someone until I knew Edward could handle himself."

"But… what if we don't _want_ to be with anyone else?"

Roy sighed, kneeling down to Alphonse's level.

"Al… Truthfully, I don't know what will happen from here. There's a lot at stake with keeping you here as well as all the injustices you've gone through. The case we're working on actually has to do with Mommy, but the Fuhrer doesn't know about my closeness between the two of you. Technically this would be considered a personal issue and I would be taken off the case immediately, but since no one but a few know about you two, I'm going to be kept on. I _want_ to be kept on so I can bring the two of you some justice from what Mommy's done to your brother and to you."

"Y-you're going to go after Mommy?" Alphonse asked in fear.

Roy rustled his hair. "Don't worry, she doesn't scare me."

Alphonse nodded a little and looked back at his brother.

"Is someone gonna stay with us?"

"Gracia has kindly volunteered to do so. I need to get dressed. Gracia should be here momentarily."

He walked away to get dressed and Alphonse crawled into the bed with Edward.

* * *

Roy opened the door and Gracia walked in with some bags. He took a couple from her and went to the kitchen.

"I thought I'd make something that had a lot of good ingredients in it. As redundant as it sounds, vegetable soup has a lot of vegetables in it as well as soup that will help with Edward. Alphonse may like to help me with it."

"I think he would."

"How's Edward doing?"

"The doctor just came by and gave me some prescriptions I need to go to an apothecary and an herbalist for." He said with a frown. "He said he's practically giving Edward horse tranquilizer."

"Oh dear." Gracia said with a worried look. "Will he be alright as of now?"

"Well the doctor gave me a bottle of pills that are a lower dosage but I'm sure you could try and give him something. Right now he's cold, bruised, battered, and exhausted. I don't think he'll wake up for a while."

"I see. Well, hurry up or you'll be late for work."

Roy nodded and left for work.

* * *

 _Alphonse stared at Edward as Edward looked at him in confusion._

 _"Who are you?" he asked._

 _"What do you mean? It's me, Al."_

 _Edward shook his head. "No, Al's been kidnapped."_

 _Alphonse frowned. "No I haven't. I'm right here."_

 _Something clanged against the bars and a guard looked in, glaring at Alphonse._

 _"You two shut up."_

 _He left and Alphonse scooted a little closer to his brother._

 _"Ed, it's me."_

 _"Uh uh." Edward said, shaking his head back and forth quickly. "Nope, nope, Alphonse has been taken. That's what Mommy says."_

 _Alphonse made a face. "Who's Mommy?"_

 _" **I'm** Mommy." Alphonse looked out of the cage to the woman who had raided their home, killed their mother, killed **him**. "At least, that's what you're going to be calling me from now on. We're going to be one happy family."_

 _"What did you do to my brother?!" Al growled, shaking the bars._

 _"Whatever do you mean?"_

 _"He says I'm not who I say I am. What did you do?"_

 _"Why, he thought you were dead when we were back at that silly house. I convinced him that you weren't dead but simply taken away. You'll be going by a new name now."_

 _"And what's that?"_

 _Mommy shrugged. "Depends on what I want to call you."_

 _"Will he help me find Al?" Edward asked._

 _Mommy turned to him. "Yes, he will."_

 _"You're tricking him!" Al growled._

 _Mommy smiled for a moment and then put her hand under her chin._

 _"Tricking… Trick… I think I like that. From now on, you'll be known as Trick._

* * *

Alphonse woke up in a cold sweat and breathed heavily. He looked around him to see nice solid walls to keep out the cold, the blankets in the bed keeping him warm, the smell of something nice that wasn't the smell of a factory.

"Al… Al, don't worry, I'll save you."

Al looked at Edward and grabbed the rag from the wash basin. He dipped it in and touched Edward's forehead with it. Edward moaned and then whimpered at his pain. Al sighed a little.

"You know, Mommy used you really well. I figured out what she was doing the day you went out on your first mission for her. Do you remember what it was? I do. Supposedly, I had been kidnapped by a prestigious State Alchemist living on the outskirts of Central. That's when Mommy created Chaser within you so that you didn't remember anything. Then you went off and you killed that guy." Alphonse sighed again. "I wish you could be back to normal, Brother. It's never the same without you, and even when you were under Chaser's control, it was still fun…"

Edward coughed and shivered as Alphonse put the rag back.

"I hope Roy gets something for your pain soon. I thought I heard Ms. Gracia in the kitchen. She's making all sorts of things that are yummy and good for us."

Edward whimpered again as it looked like pain radiated through him. He gave a small moan and Alphonse ran to the door.

"Ms. Gracia!"

Gracia ran to the kitchen doorway.

"Al? Is everything alright?"

"Ed's in a lot of pain. Is there anything for him?"

"Roy left these painkillers but he said they were very low grade. He won't be getting anything worthwhile until about lunch time."

Edward let out another moan and began to cry slightly from the pain. Alphonse went back into the room and sat next to his brother with trepidation. Gracia came up with the bottle of pills that Roy had given her and read the instructions. She dished out two and walked over to Edward. She shook her head at is condition and touched his face softly.

"I'm going to have to crush these into something and have him drink it. He's too out of it for him to swallow the pills properly."

She left and came back, crushing the pills with a spoon and she poured the orange juice into the cup with the crushed pills. She helped Edward drink it down and checked his head.

"I'll go refill this basin with some cooler water. Also, I'm making vegetable soup, did you want to help?"

"How?"

"Well, as I cut up the vegetables, you can put them in the pot and stir it for me."

Al nodded. "Okay…"

* * *

Roy clapped his hands slowly at Maes.

"Impressive."

"See, not everyone needs alchemy to get the job done."

Roy looked at the man hanging upside down by his feet and grabbed him to keep him from swinging around.

"Why were you running?" Roy asked.

"You're the Amestrian military, who _doesn't_ run? Especially if you're from Ishval? Pssht, you'd better run if you want to live."

"Then again, you should try to make sure that you're able to get away or at least get a head start. You got caught in a rabbit trap that my kids could make."

Maes was slightly insulted and slightly distracted by Roy saying 'my kids'. He wasn't sure if it was a slip of the tongue or if he was just trying to be a jerk to the Ishvalan.

"Sometimes it doesn't even matter. You people just come in and mess everything up by sticking your nose in other people's affairs."

"Enough with the pity party about the war. It's over."

"Then why the hell are you interrogating me?"

"We need some answers." Maes said, walking over and pulling a picture from his jacket pocket. "Do you know anything about this woman? She goes by the codename 'Mommy'."

The man looked at the picture and made a face.

"Are you joking me right now?"

Maes made a face and looked at the picture again. He chuckled nervously.

"I'm sorry, that is my girlfriend. Isn't she just the sweetest thing you ever saw though?"

"Uh… yeah, she's a peach."

"Maes."

"Getting to it." he said, reaching inside his jacket again and pulling up the right picture. "Recognize her?"

The man looked at it for a moment and then narrowed his eyes at the two.

"What do you want with that broad?"

"We're looking for her. We have evidence she is kidnapping and brainwashing children into becoming her assassins for her to take out State Alchemists. Now we know you don't exactly like us, but she's causing a carnage."

The man made a face. "I don't know her real name. I don't think anyone does. She always went by a codename for everyone individually to her and everyone encompassed. I do know for a fact that someone killed a family member of hers and so she's out for revenge and last I remember, she was trying to raise a coup against the army but the war was won and it never came to fruition. I think she's just a bitter bitch."

"Bitter bitches come and bite the higher ups in the ass. Some dogs you can't let just lie." Maes said. "Have you seen her recently or have any recent news about her?"

"Uh, I know I saw her caravan come through here and heading towards the desert. Most likely heading for Xing."

"Why would she want to go to Xing?"

"Sales."

"Sales?"

"If I were her and if I were stealing kids to brainwash them and turn them into assassins, I'd go to someplace that was always under civil unrest. Xing's whole country is made up of provinces that are blood tied to the emperor and always trying to kill the other. I'd sell the kid to the heirs and then use the kid to take care of the dirty work."

"You seem pretty positive about her comings, goings, and even her thought pattern. I think we need to take you into custody."

"No! I'm just telling you what I know and what I speculate."

"Hey, Lieutenant! We found something in the man's home." A soldier yelled from behind them.

Maes walked off as the Ishvalan growled, crossing his arms.

"You got a name?" Roy asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not telling you."

"What purpose will that serve?"

"I'm not trying to get formal with you."

Maes walked up and held up a couple of pictures.

"You mind explaining these?"

The man looked at the pictures and sighed.

"I thought I got rid of all of these…"

"Well you didn't. So…"

"She's my cousin. We've always been close."

"Were you in her entourage?"

"Yeah, but then I got caught by you two…"

"So what you were saying earlier is what she might do? Or were you just trying to throw us off the scent?"

"Hmm…" the man said, suddenly getting cocky.

Roy saw this coming and so put his ignition gloves on. He snapped his fingers and fire erupted from his thumb. He put his flame next to the man and the man whimpered.

"Now, stop pussyfooting around: where is _she_?"

"I- I don't know! I swear! We stopped the caravan at a town and there were some Amestrian soldiers. We went about our business as quietly as we could but she got spotted and then there was gunfire. She took off and left a few of us behind. She's not exactly known for her kindness."

"A cousin, you said you were?"

"Yeah…"

Roy pulled away and thumbed at the man.

"Take him into custody. Right now he's the only lead we've got on her."

"What's your name, Red Eyes?" Maes grumbled.

"Fuck. You." He seethed, spitting at Maes.

Maes just stepped back from it.

"I'll give you a name then… I like 'Dead Meat' because that's what you're going to be if you don't cooperate." Maes said, pointing his gun at the Ishvalan.

He gulped and the soldiers cut him down from the trap. He yelped and they began to drag him off.

"My name is Omar." The man said. "And don't you forget it."

Maes and Roy gave him a creepy grin. "Don't worry, we won't."

* * *

 **there is a reason he doesn't know her name. he's telling the truth with all this but there are some things that mommy will do to keep it under wraps.**

 **and roy still believes that he wouldn't make a good dad and all that rot. he doesn't want to abandon him but remember that he isn't a colonel at this point and so his ranking is fairly low which means lower pay. and if i'm not mistaken, they sometimes house you based on the number of people you have so if he took in ed and all he would have to get a 2 and eventually 3 bedroom house and he broke! but it's mostly because he doesn't believe he's good enough to take care of them properly.**


	10. Chapter 10

**i apologize in advance if the end of this seems a little choppy. it was kind of a sudden thought that i thought would go well with the story but i hope it wasn't too 'yup, i just thought about this okay here ya go' ^^;**

* * *

The man at the apothecary looked over the prescription as Roy watched him. He gave Roy a look and then looked him over.

"You don't seem to be in a lot of pain."

"It's not for me. It's for my son." He growled.

"Bad accident?" the man said, still looking suspicious.

"Yes. He was in a very bad accident. He's got a shattered shoulder, broken ribs, and a hell of a lot of trauma. So if you don't mind…"

The man grunted and began to get his ingredients.

"It'll take about two hours to make due to boiling and mixing."

"Fine." Roy growled. "Where's the herbalist?"

"About a block away."

He nodded and took the other prescription to the herbalist.

* * *

The woman looked at him and Roy drummed his fingers on the counter.

"You seem of right mind, sir."

"God dammit, it's for my kid. He got in an accident and he's in a lot of pain and trauma."

The herbalist looked at the prescription. "How _much_ trauma?"

"Ma'am, it is none of your business."

"You're right. I shouldn't judge… Would you like some tea while you wait? It'll only take a moment for me to measure out and mix."

"No, I'm good. I have a whole hour to wait for the apothecary…" he grumbled, going to a seat.

He shook his foot as it was crossed over his leg in agitation. _What the hell am I even giving this kid anyway? These two thought it was me… I'll have to call for proper dosage… And why do I keep telling these people he's my son?_ He sighed at his own confusion when the herbalist called him up to get the bag.

"Here you are."

"I was told to charge it to Dr. Ronax."

"Charged it is. I also gave you a bit of rose in it. It doesn't take away the effects but it makes it takes sweeter."

"Thank you."

* * *

Roy opened the door as Gracia looked up from reading a book to Al, who was laying in her lap. He was asleep and she put her finger over her mouth.

"Have you gotten your medicine?" she asked softly. He nodded. "Good. Poor Edward has been in so much pain. I could only give him a few of the painkillers before he started throwing them up. Couldn't eat and it just caused more problems. I have soup on the stove if you want to try and get him to eat."

Roy nodded and got a tray and a small bowl to put the soup in. Gracia came up to the kitchen, having gotten from under Alphonse.

"Is there anything you need help with?"

"Could you boil some water and read the directions for the herbalist? It's for his mentality."

"What will it do?"

"I'm not sure. I'm going to get this pain medicine up to him and the food."

Gracia nodded and set to looking at the instructions the herbalist had given.

* * *

Roy opened the door and saw Edward in the bed, crying silently and whimpering every so often. He set the tray beside him and touched his forehead to see if he had a fever. He did and Roy grabbed the rag in the water on the table. He looked at the water for a moment and went to get more when he thought he felt something grab his clothing. He turned around and saw that he was right and Edward was holding onto his jacket.

"I'm coming back. I'm going to get some new water."

His fingers slid from the coat and Roy quickly got the water. He came back and also got a new rag and dabbed Edward's forehead with it. Edward just stared at him through tired and pain filled eyes.

"I got some things to help with your pain, okay? You'll have to eat a little something before I give it to you though. We don't need you to throw up anymore, right?"

"My throat hurts…" he said softly.

"I'm sure it does. Eat a little something and then I can give you something better."

Roy grabbed the bowl and dipped the spoon in it. It was a little warm, so he blew on it and let Edward eat. He ate slowly but he got everything down and it seemed to stay down. Roy even saw a little color coming back to the boy's face with some nourishment in him. Roy smiled as he pulled the covers back and looked over his wounds. The bandage still looked good on his ribs but the one for his shoulder was pink and dingy looking. He pulled the bandages off and frowned as he got closer to the wound. When he took it off, the wound was festered and looked green.

"Damn it…"

"Chaser wasn't quick enough…" Edward said softly.

Roy looked at him as he looked at Roy, his eyes looking like they were going to cry.

"He tried…"

"I'm not mad at you, Edward. I know you tried…"

"Mommy said Chaser was useless and he didn't try to save me again. He left me… he… he didn't want to stay with me anymore."

Roy watched him for a moment and went to get the makeshift medical supplies he had in his bathroom. He found a few rags and went back to the bed.

"This will sting a little so be aware." Edward nodded. "Why did Chaser leave?"

"Because Edward isn't a good boy. I was bad and bad boys don't get treats…"

"How were you bad?" he said, putting the alcohol drenched rag on Edward's shoulder.

Edward howled in pain and began to cry.

"Why?! Why do you hurt me?!"

"I'm trying to help you!" Roy growled, grabbing Edward's other arm so that he wouldn't flail from the bed. "You have to trust me."

"No, no, no, Blue Man sends fire in his fingers and Blue Man uses pew-pew to hurt Edward! No! Leave me alone!"

The door opened and Alphonse came in. He looked at Roy as Edward moaned and arched in the bed and turned his head at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Your brother's arm is still infected. I was putting more alcohol on it but he's gone and freaked out again."

Alphonse walked over as Edward looked at him with a pitiful expression.

"Trick, help! The Blue Man will hurt me with his fire! Please don't let me stay! Let me go… Help me!"

"It's okay, Ed. That's the man who saved you from the cold."

"No! No, no… no… he's gonna hurt me and- and-"

Humming sounded through the room and Edward stopped panicking for a moment, confused. Alphonse was confused too until they both realized it was Roy. He was humming something their mom used to sing to them. Edward calmed down as Roy just kept humming, dabbing the rag of alcohol on Edward's wound and then grabbing some salve. He put it on the wound, knowing full well it wouldn't help at all and used another rag to cover the wound over. He used the used bandages to keep the rag in place and tied it off. When he was done, he looked up as Edward stared at him in confusion.

"What?"

"Where'd you learn that song?" Al asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You were humming. It's a song our mom used to sing to us."

"I was just trying to concentrate on dealing with your brother… I'm not sure where I got the song." He looked back at Edward, who was still staring at him in confusion. "Did I cause a problem?"

Al looked at his brother and turned his head at him.

"I've never seen him do that…" He walked over to him. "Are you alright?"

Edward looked like he was trying to understand something when a spasm went through is shoulder and he hissed, laying back down. Roy grabbed the pills from the apothecary and shook one out to give to Edward.

"Take this and you'll feel a lot better."

Edward obliged without a fight and took the pill. Roy tucked him in and began to leave.

"Mister?" Roy turned back to him and he smiled a little. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, kid. Get some sleep."

* * *

Gracia had mixed some of the tonic from the herbalist together and handed it to Roy. He looked at the muddy concoction and made a face.

"Is that what it's supposed to look like?"

"I followed the instructions on the paper. Most things that don't look or taste good are good for you."

"I'll agree on that. I just had a weird encounter with Ed."

"Oh?"

"I was trying to concentrate and I guess I started humming and it looked like Edward was trying to understand something. What, I don't know, but he immediately calmed down and even seemed civil. He actually said thank you and seemed to talk normal."

"You should try to remember what the song was."

"It was subconscious…"

"Too bad. Well, if you're back for the night I'll be going then."

"Thanks, Gracia. Maes is lucky to have you."

"You say that every time."

"Because I mean it."

She blushed a little and left the house as Roy dipped some soup and ate a bowl himself.

* * *

Late that night, Edward got up and found the pills with the high dosage of pain medication in them and stuffed them in his shorts. He got off the bed and headed downstairs to the door. He reached up to open it when a light clicked on. He turned and saw Roy in the dim light.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I have things to finish."

"Is that so?"

"I have to finish my job."

"What job is that?"

"None of your business."

"You're pretty lively for someone who was wallowing in pain a few hours ago."

"You woke me up."

"That song?"

"Yes."

"I see… So that's how Mommy controlled you."

"That's how _Mommy_ made me fall asleep." He snarled.

"And are you Edward?"

"I'm none of your concern."

"I see you aren't."

"I don't want to talk to you."

"Are you going to kill someone?" he asked as Edward reached for the door again. Edward froze. "I know about your little late night romances with a blade or two. You're not Edward."

"I'm _more_ than Edward… Edward is weak and puny. Chaser was only good for one thing: chasing."

"And who are you? I'm not going to ask you again."

Edward turned to him with narrowed eyes.

"I'm Ite."

"As I thought."

"You don't know anything about me. If I had both of my arms I'd kill you right here and now under a minute."

Roy cocked his gun. "I've got a gun and I think I can get you in two seconds."

Edward, or Ite, made a face as Roy glared at him from the couch.

"I don't know if we've formally met yet, Ite. I'm Lieutenant Roy Mustang of the Amestrian military."

"Yeah, I got that. I'm not stupid."

"But you are protecting Edward."

"I'm trying to find _Alonso_. I don't give a rat's ass about Edward's stupid condition. I want my brother and I want him now. If you know something about it, give it to me."

"Ite?"

He looked over where Alphonse was and brightened.

"Alonso!"

He ran to him and hugged him tight as Alphonse gave Roy a look. Roy was a bit confused until he saw Alphonse motion to Ite. He realized he wanted him to knock him out. Roy grabbed a hold of the wound and caused Ite to cry out and fall to the floor. Alphonse punched him in the face and fell back, breathing heavily. Roy looked at him.

"What the fuck is going on?"

Alphonse looked at Roy and swallowed.

"Chaser was made by Mommy to keep Edward in check. Without him, Ed was lost but that was because she made it where Ite couldn't get out. Ite is the one who _really_ protects Ed… Ed made him and he's the one who assassinates everyone. Without Chaser, Ite can take over now and that song… that song you hummed was the one that kept him away."

"He called you Alonso."

"Yeah… Whatever it takes to get the job done." Al snapped, glaring at Roy. "Ite was made to kill Mommy. That's what Ed made him to do but she just… she's too powerful. She knows how to do things that I don't understand. She made it where Ite didn't want to kill her and instead of protecting Ed, he rules over him because _his_ brother is more important. Alphonse, Trick, Alonso, Alu… I'm the same person and everyone is trying to save me but everyone else gets killed in the end."

"And… Alu?"

Al looked at Roy with a hard expression.

"If Ed ever calls me that, then you'll see Mommy's greatest accomplishment. She made something that only Ite can turn into and when he does… when he does his 'brother' Alonso suddenly doesn't matter anymore. Alu does."

"And who is Alu to Ite when he's in that new form?"

"I'm a toy. A ragdoll."

Roy sighed and picked Edward up, who was spasming in pain.

"This is way too much for the night. I need better answers. Do I need to strap him down or something?"

"Just lock the door." Roy nodded. "Roy?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry that Brother isn't normal."

Roy just sighed. "We'll deal with that when the morning comes."

There was too much to handle in such a short amount of time. _I think I'm in over my head._

* * *

 **yes roy, you might be.**

 **and to clarify a bit: chaser was something mommy actually created in edward via the serum and the transmutation circle. edward himself actually created a personality to protect him that is called ite. but mommy found a way to screw edward over again by manipulating ite to do her bidding and making him turn into this 'greatest accomplishment' if he ever tried to go after her. we'll get into that later.**

 **ps: anyone wanna guess what Ite means?**


End file.
